


Bleached Memories

by Syber_Slash



Category: Bleach, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Angry Midoriya Izuku, BAMF Midoriya Izuku, Dead Todoroki Enji | Endeavor, F/F, F/M, Female Midoriya Izuku, Future Polyamory, Midoriya Izuku Has Multiple Quirks, Midoriya Izuku Has a Quirk, Midoriya Izuku is a Nomu, Morally Ambiguous Midoriya Izuku, Parental Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, The flaming trashbag is dead. Crabrave, There are hints to MHA manga spoilers. Read at your own discretion
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:47:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 81,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25382593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Syber_Slash/pseuds/Syber_Slash
Summary: A girl, thought lost to the world, has been taken and transformed into something... powerful.What sinister intent was behind this deed? The death of someone important, of course.But when this goes awry, what will happen going forth?Come and see, as White relearns what it means to be 'human'.
Relationships: Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead & Midoriya Izuku, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead/Fukukado Emi | Ms. Joke, The Hollow. The Splitter. The Shemage
Comments: 707
Kudos: 524





	1. The Loss of a Bright Light

“Speech” _‘thoughts’_ **“Telephone communication, or whatever they use”**

Enjoy

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“Sir, I believe I have found a candidate for the shelved project,” a figure in a dark room said as they spoke into a receiver of some sort.

**“Oh? Is it Project White by any chance good Doctor?”** a voice replied through a television screen mounted on the wall, which was displaying the words ‘sound only’.

The figure hummed to themself. “Indeed it is sir. The candidate is young, but this means she’s also still malleable. She’s also quirkless, which further means a clean slate to work with and her genes are nearly identical to those of the owners of the quirks for Project White. She’s perfect, but it will likely still be a few years before she will be ready. Once she is, she will be a great boon to your forces,” the figure, who had a large bushy mustache explained as they looked down at a piece of paper.

On the paper was a picture. It showed a young girl, with short, curly green hair, big green eyes, and four freckles in a diamond pattern on either of her cheeks.

And on top of the paper was a name.

**Izumi Midoriya.**

**“Excellent. Give me their name and address, I will arrange for her… ‘pickup’,”** the voice from the TV replied with a pleased tone.

The figure nodded as a wicked smile grew on their face. “I understand sir. I look forward to beginning the project.”

* * *

Izumi kept her head low as she walked beside her mom towards home. 

Ever since a week ago, Izumi had been in a near catatonic state. No smiles, no excitement, no joy.

One might wonder why, but the answer was simple.

After a year of no evidence of a quirk, Izumi had finally been diagnosed as _quirkless_.

That diagnosis had shattered the girl’s world. She had dreamed to be a hero for as long as she could remember, but now that dream was out of her reach.

“Izumi? Do you want some ice cream?” 

Izumi raised her head to look at her mom, Inko Midoriya. “Ice cream?” she asked with a quiet and blank tone.

Inko tried to smile at her daughter, but she could feel it being strained. “Yes, whatever flavour you want Sweetie,” she replied warmly, or tried to.

Izumi stared up Inko for a moment, then she nodded slowly. “Okay… I’d like that…” she answered as she lowered her head to look at the ground again.

Inko’s expression fell as she saw this and pain began to coarse through her chest. She felt responsible for what had happened, she felt like it was her fault Izumi was quirkless.

She pushed it down for the moment as she began to walk ahead again, with Izumi walking along quietly.

After walking for a few minutes, the two Midoriyas arrived at Izumi’s favourite ice cream shop. It was small, but it had the best ice cream in the little girl’s opinion.

They entered inside and went into the line, then Inko looked down at Izumi again. “Sweetie, do you want the usual?” she asked softly to her daughter while trying to smile again.

Izumi didn’t raise her head as she nodded slowly.

Inko stared at Izumi for a moment, then she turned back to the line while trying to keep her sad expression away. She didn’t know how successful she was.

After a few minutes, Inko and Izumi got to the line and the tall mother ordered her daughter’s ice cream, which was mint chocolate chip, her favourite.

After a moment, Inko was handed an ice cream cone, then said her thanks and moved to the side.

Once out of the store, Inko stopped and turned to Izumi. “Here’s your ice cream, Izumi,” she said as she crouched slightly and held the ice cream cone out in front of her daughter’s face.

Izumi’s eyes raised up and locked onto the ice cream, then after a moment she slowly reached out with her free hand to take the ice cream.

Inko let go of the ice cream once she was sure Izumi had a good grip of it, then stood up straight again while keeping her eyes on her daughter.

Izumi stared at the ice cream for a few moments, then she slowly brought the ice cream up to her mouth and took a single lick of the cold treat.

A content hum managed to escape Izumi while a small smile grew on her face. 

Inko quickly felt some joy enter her as the small smile graced her daughter’s face. “Is it nice?” she asked softly.

Izumi nodded. “It’s nice…” she answered quietly, but with a hint of happiness.

Inko was elated to hear it. She had been able to help Izumi, even if only slightly. “I’m glad to hear it.”

A moment later, Inko continued on with Izumi following while enjoying her ice cream.

But, it wasn’t meant to last.

An explosion rocked through the district they were in, making the ground shake as flames went high into the sky.

Caught just within fifty meters of the epicenter, were Inko and Izumi.

The explosion carried both of them off their feet and blew them several meters away, where both landed hard.

Rubble was also thrown high, including some massive chunks, and these crashed into the buildings surrounding the street, where the explosion seemed to have originated.

Inko managed to stay conscious despite falling on her head, but she was confused as to what had happened. 

She pushed herself up, then brought a hand to her head while still on her knees. “What… happened?” she wondered aloud as she began to look around.

But then she noticed something.

Izumi was nowhere around.

Panic immediately set in and despite the pain she was feeling in her leg and back, she stood up as quickly as she could and looked around. “IZUMI! IZUMI, WHERE ARE YOU!?” she shouted as loudly as she could, despite there being a lot of noise from other panicking people.

She got no response and began to hurriedly walk while looking around. “IZUMI! PLEASE ANSWER ME!” she shouted once more. She couldn’t have been thrown that far.

“MAMA!”

Inko froze in her step, then a moment later whipped to stare in the direction she had heard the voice speak from.

There, just a few meters away, was an injured and slightly bloody Izumi, but she was alive.

Inko didn’t hesitate as she began to run in the direction of her daughter. “IZUMI!”

Izumi reached an arm out while tears streamed down her face. “MA-”

She was cut off as where she stood, rubble came to replace the girl with a loud crash.

Inko’s eyes widened and became wider than they had ever been in her life. “IZUMIIIIII!” she shouted as loudly as she could while increasing her pace to be faster than anything she had tried before.

She got to the rubble where her daughter had been and fell to her knees. “IZUMI, STAY WITH ME!” she pleaded as she began to claw at the rubble to try and get it off her daughter.

But then she began to feel something wet coat her hands.

She looked down at them, only to feel her body freeze and her mind grind to a halt.

Her hands were _red_. 

Inko stared, she stared for at least fifteen seconds.

Then it began to register for her.

Tears began to slowly appear in her eyes.

Then she cried, she cried louder than she ever had in her life, while a pool of blood steadily began to spread out from under the rubble.

This was the scene rescuers arrived to. A mother grieving and crying over the crushed body of her daughter.

* * *

Two hours later, Inko was laying in a bed in the hospital, having been brought there after the heroes and rescuers were able to wrench her off the rubble that had crushed Izumi.

She had cried all she could, and now she was left an empty shell as it all swirled through her mind.

Why? Why did it have to be Izumi? She was a sweet child, could do no one harm, so why her?

Was it because she had been born quirkless? 

Inko didn’t know. She didn’t know, but she did know that she wished it had been her. She deserved it, it was her fault that her daughter was- had been quirkless.

And here she was, sitting in a hospital bed and beginning to tear up again.

Then the door burst open. “INKO! ARE YOU OK?!” A familiar voice asked loudly.

Inko looked up slowly at the door, and saw her best friend looking back at her. “Mitsuki…” she mumbled lowly.

Mitsuki Bakugou, Inko’s sister from another mother and father, the closest thing to family she had left.

Mitsuki rushed into the room and up to Inko’s bed. “What happened?! Are you hurt?!” she questioned hurriedly and panicky while her hands hovered over Inko.

“Mitsuki, please calm down, there are other people in the hospital,” came a calmer and more soft spoken voice from behind the ash blonde woman.

Inko looked past her friend to Mitsuki’s husband, Masaru Bakugou and their son Katsuki Bakugou were walking into the room.

Mitsuki didn’t listen to her husband. “Inko? Are you hurt?” she asked again with heavy worry.

Inko stared for a moment longer, then her head lowered again. “I’m not hurt…” she answered quietly with a tone devoid of emotions.

The tone caught Mitsuki off guard for a moment. “Inko?..”

For a moment, silence fell on the hospital room.

Masaru looked around for a moment, then his expression turned worried. “Where’s Izumi?” he asked aloud as he turned back to Inko.

It was only then Mitsuki looked around and realised that sure enough, Izumi wasn’t in the room. “Is she in another room? Why woul-”

It was then a sob reached her ears, and she turned back to see that Inko’s shoulders were shaking.

Mitsuki’s worry increased ten fold as she reached a hand out towards her friend. “Ink-”

“I-Izumi is d-dead.”

The Bakugous all tensed up at those three simple words.

For almost half a minute, silence fell on the room again, the only sounds able to be heard being Inko’s steadily increasing sobs.

Mitsuki finally recovered, but her mind was still unable to comprehend what she had heard. “Izumi is… dead? Hey, Inko, come on, don’t joke ar-”

It was then that Inko raised her head, and the look on her face made Mitsuki realise it was no joke.

The expression of pain and sadness etched into Inko’s face was all that needed to be said.

Izumi, was gone.

Tears began to appear in Mitsuki and Masaru’s eyes, while Katsuki’s eyes remained wide while his mind kept spinning.

_‘Deku, is gone? No, she can’t be dead, she’s too fucking persistent to die just like that,’_ were the thoughts going through his head. The Deku he knew wouldn’t get killed just like that, even if she was quirkless.

But as he looked at Auntie break down, reality began to set in.

“Deku is… gone?...” he muttered lowly to himself, while tears began to spring forth in his own eyes.

The hospital room was filled with tears as everyone broke down at the truth of Izumi’s death.

* * *

Darkness was all Izumi could see. What had happened? Where was she?

Her senses slowly began to return to her, but everything felt… off.

She couldn’t hear anything and it felt like she was underwater.

Izumi finally managed to open her eyes, but the second she did she realised something was wrong.

First, why was everything dark, and second, why could she see bubbles?

It took her a few seconds to realise what was happening. 

Her eyes widened as she began to look around while panic began to grow in her. _‘Where am I? What is this?’_ she wondered internally.

She seemed to be in some sort of water filled tank and was wearing a mask that was allowing her to breath. She also had no clothes, but she only half registered this fact.

As she looked around, a small light caught her attention.

It looked like a TV screen, and sitting in front of it was a figure.

Izumi dragged herself to the glass wall of the tank, then she tried to bang on it, but because of the water it was slow and made little sound.

But evidently it was enough, as she could see the figure turning. “Oh? You’re awake? That’s quite surprising, I was sure I had already put you to sleep,” the figure said.

Izumi’s eyes widened further. She recognised that voice, and the figure’s face was illuminated by the TV screen.

It was the doctor that had diagnosed her as quirkless.

The doctor hummed. “Ah, you recognise me then. It won’t matter in the end,” he said as he walked towards Izumi.

Izumi began to move back in the tank as he approached while her body began to tremble. Had he put her in the tank? Why?

The doctor walked up to a control pad beside the tank, then while looking at Izumi he pressed a button. “The next time you wake up, you won’t remember any of this,” he said as a smile began to spread across his face.

Izumi had no time to feel fear or anything else as she suddenly began to feel very sleepy.

Despite trying desperately to stay awake, Izumi fell asleep in just a few seconds. 

The doctor hummed to himself as he watched Izumi go limp in the tank. “She’ll be my greatest work yet,” he spoke with a gleeful tone and smile as he looked at the unconscious girl.

He had plans for her, his Perfect Noumu.


	2. White, and Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> July 22nd. Chapter 1/1.
> 
> All Might discovers information about a certain nefarious figure, and he, along with a team go for a raid.
> 
> The raid, ends in _tragedy _.__

“Speech” _thoughts’_ **“Telephone communication, or whatever they use”**

Enjoy

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Time went by, and the downtown explosion that had happened in Musutafu was largely forgotten.

But for one, the day had had a lasting effect.

Inko Midoirya had never recovered from the death of her daughter, and it showed in her daily life.

She rarely did anything, barely even taking care of herself. She lost weight until she was dangerously thin, and she barely bathed, meaning her hygiene was terrible, and the house was dirty and unkempt.

The Bakugous watched this degradation of Inko over the span of multiple visits, each being only a week apart.

A year after the death of Izumi, the Bakugous finally managed to get Inko to move in with them, but she didn’t change and remained in a near catatonic state, barely leaving her room for more than to use the bathroom or eat.

Mitsuki and Masaru couldn’t figure out what to do. Should they let her stay with them, or should they send her to some place that would be able to help her better?

They didn’t know, and it was only after the second year of Izumi’s death that they finally decided it was for the best to send her to an institution that would be able to help her.

Over the next four years, Inko slowly improved with the help of a therapist and the other people admitted to the institution, but the process was still extremely slow.

She may recover one day, but she may also not, only time would tell.

* * *

In a dark room filled with all sorts of medical equipment, a familiar figure was sitting in a chair and looking at something on a screen.

The doctor hummed after a moment, then turned to look behind him. “She’s just about ready. After six years… Project White, my Perfect Noumu, will finally be complete.” There was a tone of joy in his voice as he spoke with a smile.

He was staring at a tank filled with water, the only one in the room.

  


In the tank was a figure. They had pure white skin, black and green hair, four pitch black freckles on either of their cheeks in a diamond pattern, a hole going straight through their body, centered just above their chest and below their collarbone, a robe that appeared to be made of multiple layers of tattered black and white cloth, which made it seem like fur, and most strikingly of all, a pair of pitch black wings sprouting from their back, accented with green on the feathers.

The doctor stood up and began to walk towards the tank. “My dear White, you did better than I could ever have hoped, your body easily accepted all the quirks I copied into you. You are most definitely my greatest work to date, even compared to Kurogiri,” he spoke aloud to himself while standing in front of the tank with his hands folded behind his back.

After a moment of silent staring, a ping from behind him caught his attention.

**“Hello Doctor, how is our project?”** a familiar voice said from the TV.

The doctor hummed. “Ah, sir. She’s almost complete, another week or so and she’ll be finished. The memory wipe and brainwashing has already been done and her body only needs to fully acclimate to the quirks,” he explained to the voice with a happy tone.

The voice on the other side of the TV hummed. **“Excellent. It won’t be much longer then, All Might will soon meet his end and my brother’s legacy will end with him.”**

The doctor nodded to himself, then turned back to the tank. 

The strongest and smartest High-end Noumu that had ever been made with the sole purpose of All Might, the Symbol of Peace’s death in mind.

The doctor couldn’t help but grin. 

He couldn’t wait to see the destruction she would cause.

* * *

All Might’s leg wouldn’t stop bouncing as he sat and waited in the conference room.

His arms were crossed as he impatiently sat and waited for his friend to come. He had arrived early, but this warranted quick action, especially if it was true.

After a few more minutes, the door to the room opened, and in walked his friend Naomasa Tsukauchi, a detective in the Musutafu police force. “Sorry for the wait Toshinori, I came as fast as I could,” Naomasa apologised while wearing a semi serious expression.

All Might nodded. “It’s fine, you’re here now. So, is it true?” he asked as he uncrossed his arms and leaned onto the table.

Naomasa nodded as he sat in the chair across from his friend. “Yes. I’ve found a possible facility where **_He_ ** is doing some kind of work. What work I don’t know, but it can’t be good if **_He_ ** is in control,” he explained as he handed over a few pieces of paper.

All Might accepted the papers and began to read them over.

A minute of skimming later, All Might grit his teeth. “If this is where that bastard has been hiding…” his hand began to crush the paper in his hand as he spoke to himself.

Naomasa’s brow furrowed. “Toshinori, don’t do anything rash. I know what you’ve told me about **_Him_** , but if it’s true then you can’t rush in there without a second thought. Whether **_He_** is there or not, you’re going to need reinforcements, understood?” He spoke with a pointed tone as he narrowed his eyes at his friend who tended to be quite headstrong about things like this.

All Might looked at his friend for a moment, then he sighed after a moment. “You’re right, but they’ll be at risk of losing their quirks if they come with me and I can’t allow th-“

Naomasa interrupted the hero with a raised hand. “If they do, then it was their own choice. I know you dislike it, but you and I can’t continue to be the only people looking for him, we need more eyes and ears. I have a few ideas for some heroes that will be good to bring in, including one with an erasure quirk,” the detective explained to the blonde, whose face had scrunched up in a way that told Naomasa that he didn’t like it.

Naomasa reached an arm across the table and placed his hand on his friend's large shoulder. “Toshi, you can’t keep going like this, you’re going to crash eventually, or worse, die. These heroes are trustworthy and will get the job done, I promise,” he assured with a smile.

All Might stared at his friend for a moment, then he let out a sigh. “Alright, fine, I trust your judgement Naomasa. Bring them in for a debriefing, this mission is top priority,” he agreed with a serious expression. He wanted to take Him down as quickly as possible.

Naomasa nodded. “Got it. I’ll go call them in for a meeting in two days, that should give enough time for them to arrive and us to make a plan of action.” the detective stood up as he spoke, but never took his eyes off the blond hero.

All Might nodded, but stayed quiet as he lowered his head to look down at the papers he had been given while Naomasa turned and moved to the door. “I’ll give you a run down of who’ll be coming later, just make sure you don’t run off by yourself,” Naomasa said as he opened the door and looked back at All Might, then left a moment later.

All Might never directly answered, but Naomasa did understand what he was thinking. _‘I’ve finally got you. In a few days, you won’t be able to hurt anyone else ever again like my master, I’ll make sure of it.’_

* * *

Two days later, several heroes were gathered in the same conference room All Might and Naomasa had spoken in.

Standing in the corner by himself, Shouta Aizawa looked over the heroes that had been gathered for some kind of mission.

He had to admit he was surprised when he got a message from Nedzu, the principal of UA University, that All Might had asked for him to participate in a high priority mission, and while he disliked the way the man went about being a hero, even he couldn’t deny a request from the number one hero, especially if it was as important as it sounded.

His eyes fell on the burning form of Endeavor, the number two hero, who had his arms crossed while an annoyed look seemed to stay plastered on his face. 

Aizawa never understood Endeavor, or to be specific, never understood how the man could live with himself. It was clear as day to any person who looked closely enough that all Endeavor cared about was being the number one hero and that he would do _anything_ to gain the title, except actually helping people. He was exactly the sort of man Aizawa hated.

It annoyed Aizawa that the man was there, but he supposed that it meant this wasn’t a hostage situation or anything where they were meant to save someone.

Aizawa instead went back to looking over the other heroes that had been brought in. Among them were Edgeshot, his coworkers Midnight and Ectoplasm, and Best Jeanist. It was a small group, but they were largely high profile heroes, save for himself, Midnight, and Ectoplasm.

As he looked everyone over, the door to the conference room opened, which immediately grabbed everyone’s attention.

In through the door walked his police contact, Naomasa Tsukauchi, and following close behind was All Might, his only sidekick, Sir Nighteye, and a short older man he didn’t recognise, but from the yellow costume that was worn, he appeared to be a hero. “Sorry for the wait everyone, we were just going over the details one last time,” Naomasa apologised as he walked to the table and sat down in a seat, with All Might and Sir Nighteye doing the same.

Endeavor scoffed. “Just get to the point, why are we here?” He questioned gruffly while glaring at the detective.

Aizawa rolled his eyes at Endeavor’s words, but he wasn’t the one to speak up.

All Might turned to Endeavor while wearing a serious expression. “Enji, be quiet and let us explain before you say anything.” He spoke with a slightly annoyed tone as he narrowed his eyes slightly at the number two hero.

Endeavor couldn’t help but tense up at the look and tone from his fellow hero, but after a moment he turned while scoffing and said nothing further.

After taking a few seconds to see if the hero was going to say anything further, Naomasa cleared his throat. “Now, I’ll get on to explaining why we’ve called you all here. A few days ago, we found evidence of a facility that a high profile villain is using. What exactly he’s using it for, we don’t know, but that’s exactly why we’ve brought this group together.” He looked over the gathered heroes as he explained while wearing a serious expression.

None of the heroes said anything, prompting Naomasa to continue. “If you look at the files in front of you all, you’ll see a profile of the villain, including his quirk and what makes him so dangerous.” He gestured to the paper files laying on the table in front of each hero.

Aizawa walked over to the table as this was mentioned and sat in the open seat meant for him, then opened the file.

As everyone read, almost all of them paused at once. “ **All for One**? The ability to take quirks and use them for himself or give them to others? Is this real?” Midnight questioned with shock evident in her voice as she looked up at Naomasa, All Might and Sir Nighteye.

All Might nodded. “It’s real. All for One, named after his quirk, is a roughly two hundred year old villain who's been controlling the underworld during these two centuries, and he’s the biggest threat this society has ever seen,” he confirmed with a tone that told everyone present that he wasn’t lying.

Aizawa furrowed his brow as he read over the profile for the villain. “If he’s able to take quirks, then there’s no telling how many different powers he’s amassed over time. I’m taking it that this is why I’m here?” he asked as he raised his head to look at Naomasa.

The detective nodded. “You’re right. Your quirk will keep him from being able to use any of the quirks he’s taken or take any of yours. This raid will put your careers at risk, so if you don’t want to participate you have the option of leaving now, but you will have to sign non disclosure agreements against talking about this villain, understood?” He explained as he looked over the heroes once again with a serious expression.

The seriousness of the situation began to register for everyone in the room. This wasn’t a simple raid, this was walking into what could be their deaths.

But none of them wanted to leave. They’d gladly risk their careers and even lives if it meant putting such a potentially dangerous villain behind bars, except Endeavor, he just wanted to prove he was strong by taking down this villain before anyone else could. The other thing was to gain the trust of the people with the authority. This was a high level raid, it was sure to get him some credit.

When nobody spoke up about wanting to leave, Naomasa continued with a nod. “Thank you. Now, the facility we’ve discovered isn’t very big, but there could still be a lot happening there. Here’s the plan for how to proceed.”

* * *

The insides of the facility were dimly lit, which made the Ectoplasm clone that was scouting ahead cautious of any possible movements.

There were no sounds in the corridors of the facility, save for the quiet taps of his prosthetic legs whenever he took a step, which did little to alleviate his growing paranoia and nervousness.

It was a very barren place. He had been walking for at least a few minutes, yet he had seen no doors, only a continuing and winding array of corridors that never split.

The clone had a strong feeling that the facility was an elaborate trap, but he knew it was better for him to get caught in it, since he wasn’t the real Ectoplasm. He continued in spite of the fear of death.

After walking for another two minutes, making the time he had been walking through the facility roughly eleven minutes, he turned the corner as the corridor turned around, but came to a stop as he saw what was there.

A pair of doors.

He wasted no time calling it in. “This is the Ectoplasm clone, I’ve found a pair of doors, but I can’t see through them. I’ve found no other entrances or exits so far, do you want me to continue scouting ahead?” he asked as he spoke through the communication device he had been given before scouting ahead.

**“No, stay there. We’re making our way to you now, make sure to notify us if anyone comes through the doors,”** All Might answered from the other side after a moment of silence.

The clone nodded to himself. “Understood.”

Five minutes later the other heroes arrived. They had been quicker since they didn’t have to be careful like the clone had been.

The original Ectoplasm nodded to his clone. “Good job. Stay around, we may need you when we go through the doors,” he said to his clone in a low voice, not wanting to risk alerting anyone, or anything, that may be through the doors.

The clone nodded in understanding, then went to stand just behind the original.

All Might stepped forward as this happened, then turned to look behind him at his fellow heroes. “We don’t know what’s through these doors, so we’ll take it slowly and quietly. Edgeshot, you’re able to make yourself flat so you can look through the doors without opening them, correct?” He asked as he looked at the masked shinobi hero.

Edgeshot nodded. “Yes, I can. Step back, just in case there are security measures in place,” he instructed as he walked ahead to the door.

The other heroes agreed without a fuss, except for Endeavor, who huffed and grumbled under his breath about having to listen to a lower ranked hero.

Once they had gone back around the corner a few meters back, Edgeshot used his quirk to make himself paper thin, then peek through the small space between the two doors.

For almost a minute, silence fell on the corridor as the heroes waited for Edgeshot to finish scouting the area ahead.

A minute and a half later, Edgeshot returned through the door and made his way back to the group. “There’s a room through there, but I see no traps or security measures. They may not have expected anyone to find this place,” he explained to everyone as he came around the corner.

Aizawa hummed with a frown. “There might still be traps we can’t see.” He turned to All Might. “Me and Edgeshot will go ahead, we’re more experienced in stealth and will be able to point out any traps that may be in place.” 

All Might nodded. “A sound plan. Go ahead, then call us through when you’ve scouted it more thoroughly. Keep your communicators open, I don’t want you to not be able to talk to us because you can’t reach them,” he added as he agreed to the plan. Normally he wasn’t the type for planning, but this was a tense situation for him and he was pulling all the stops to try to make sure no one died or lost their quirk.

Aizawa raised an eyebrow at the unusual behaviour of the Symbol of Peace for a moment, but then nodded and reached up to set his communicator to open, with Edgeshot doing the same next to him.

The two stealth heroes then went on to enter the room, leaving the other heroes behind.

Endeavor scoffed as they entered through the doors. “This is a waste of time, let us just go through and-”

All Might turned around in an instant and was right up in the number two hero’s face. “Right now, I do not care _what_ you think, understand Endeavor? You’re here because you’re strong and will be able to help me beat All for One, not because you’re a good hero. You’re rash, and in this situation rashness is going to get us _killed_. Either you come up with an idea that isn’t ‘let’s go in and end them’, or you stay quiet. Am. I. Understood?” The number one hero’s tone was tense and held something between annoyance and anger as he poked his finger into Endeavor’s chest multiple times.

Endeavor couldn’t help the shocked expression that came to his face. He had never experienced All Might talking this way, nobody had. It was so incredibly out of character for the normally smiling and seemingly cheerful hero that none of the heroes could help but tense up.

After a few seconds of silence, All Might took a step back and deep breath. “I apologise about that, I’m… very tense. This man is not to be underestimated and I want to make sure everyone here keeps their quirks. We can’t rush this, if we do we may risk falling straight into a trap, or worse, die,” he explained with a slightly apologetic tone as he walked back to look around the corner at the door.

Endeavor, Ectoplasm, Midnight and Best Jeanist couldn’t help but stare at the blond hero’s back for a few moments, but as they did the genuine severity of the situation truly set in.

This was no regular villain if All Might was so tense. And this was going to be no easy raid.

Endeavor schooled his expression again. He was rash, yes, but he was not stupid enough to rush in if All Might was this nervous. 

Everyone went quiet again as they waited to hear from Aizawa and Edgeshot.

* * *

Ten minutes went by before anything was heard from the two stealth heroes.

**“All Might, you’re going to want to see this.”**

All Might immediately went on alert as he heard Aizawa’s voice speak through the communicator. “Is he there?” the Symbol of Peace asked hurriedly as he went around the corner and began to run towards the doors, with the other heroes following close behind.

**“No, but there’s something else. We found no traps, just a few computers that have been wiped clean of any information and a… tank,”** the underground hero explained with a strange tone.

All Might gained a frown as his pace slowed. “What do you mean a tank?” he asked with an unsure and confused tone.

**“Just… come see. I have a bad feeling about it.”**

All Might didn't like that statement, and quickly increased his pace again as he ran into the room, while being followed by all the other heroes.

The room was a bit larger than the heroes had expected, but they ignored that in favour of making their way through as they searched for Aizawa and Edgeshot.

It took them a minute, but they managed to find the two stealth heroes, but they paused for a moment as they did.

Aizawa turned as he heard them come close. His expression was set in an indiscernible frown. “Take a look at this. They’ve definitely been doing something here,” he said as he turned back to look at the thing he had found.

Just as he had said over the communicator, there was a cylindrical tank in front of him, and in the tank there was a figure floating. 

The figure’s appearance was strange, almost inhuman. Their skin was pure white, like snow, and their hair was a jet black with green mixed in. Their clothes seemed to be a multilayered robe that alternated between white and black, yet the edges looked ripped making it seem like it was made of fur. What caught the heroes attention the most however were the four, pitch black diamond shaped freckles on either of the figure’s cheeks and the same pitch black coloured wings with green accents to the feathers sprouting from their back.

All Might couldn’t help but stare at the figure with a worried frown. “This person… Why are they here?” He asked aloud with an unsure tone.

**“Why, she’s here for you, All Might.”**

A sense of warning and dread immediately set in on everyone as a voice spoke from behind them, and they all whipped around in an instant while going into combat stances and preparing their quirks.

What they found was a single lit up TV screen with the words ‘sound only’ displayed on it.

**“Now now everyone, no need to be so tense, you’re not in any danger.** **_Yet_ ** **.”**

All Might bristled. “All for One. Where are you?” He questioned with a tense tone. Every hair on his body was standing tall as he stayed aware of his surroundings. If the villain knew he was there, then anything could happen.

A chuckle came through the screen. **“Come now All Might, you should know by now that I won’t tell you that. Regardless, even if I did, you won’t have the chance to come and find me.”**

Everyone tensed up at his claim. What was he implying?

**“Now, why don’t I indulge your curiosity as to who the girl in the tank is. Meet White, the person who will kill you All Might.”**

Everyone stopped for a second as his words registered.

Then everyone turned to the tank and immediately backed away and made distance to the tank. “White? The person who will kill me?” All Might questioned aloud while his eyes narrowed.

**“Indeed. It took a while to find someone compatible with the quirks I had chosen, but when I did she proved to be even more perfect than we had anticipated. A shame I had to fake her death and take her from her mother, but I saved her from a life of ridicule as a quirkless outcast, and now she has a purpose. Your death.”**

Everyone, except Endeavor, faltered slightly at his words. “Quirks you had chosen? You forced quirks on an innocent quirkless girl?!” All Might questioned loudly as he turned to glare at the TV screen with grit teeth.

A laugh rang from the TV. **“I very much did. She seemed distraught when she learned she was quirkless, it seemed she had wanted to be a hero like you no less. Now, she’s going to be a villain, the one that ends your life.”**

All Might clenched his teeth even harder, so much so one would wonder how they hadn’t cracked. “You evil bastard. I-” 

Before All Might could say anything further, a hiss caught everyone's attention.

They all focused in on the tank, and saw that the liquid inside was beginning to drain out. **“Enough chit-chat-ting. Why don’t you get acquainted with White?”**

As the tank drained of the liquid that had been inside, the glass surrounding this ‘White’ began to retract up.

**“Come now White, wake up and greet our guests.”**

For a moment nothing happened.

Then White’s hand twitched, followed shortly by her wings raising up slightly.

The heroes all went on guard, even more than before, as White raised her head, then opened her eyes to reveal jade green eyes with black sclera. 

Aizawa was about to use his quirk, fearing that the figure would attack, but before he could he heard a hiss from behind him and quickly spun around, only to see something shot out of the darkness before he felt something wrap around his leg and the feeling of his quirk disappeared from him.

He swore as he looked down to find a Quirk Suppressant Cuff was now attached to his ankle. 

**“Now now Eraserhead, can’t have you erasing her quirk just yet. Just sit back and let it all happen.”**

Before any of the other heroes had a chance to properly register what had happened or how, All for One continued. 

**“Now then White, attack and kill All Might, then kill the other heroes.”**

Barely a second after the villain’s words left the screen, everyone whipped back to White and prepared for the girl to attack. 

But when nothing happened for almost ten seconds, confusion began to set in.

**“White. Kill All Might. Now.”** All for One’s voice held minor confusion, but also thinly veiled annoyance as he ordered White again.

For another few moments, White didn’t move.

Then, there was a twitch in her facial expression. 

Slowly, a grimace began to appear on the girl’s expression, then she raised her hands up and began to clutch her head as she curled in on herself.

Midnight leaned in to Best Jeanist slightly. “What’s going on?” she whispered with confusion, only getting a head shake in response from the man.

**“White! Kill, All Might!”**

“N-No. W-Won’t... hurt... All Might.” 

Everyone was surprised as White spoke, and from the sound of their voice they were in a great deal of pain.

Then the screaming began. 

White began to scream in pain while thrashing around with her arms and her expression turned to what could only be described as feral anger.

In her right hand suddenly appeared a green spear, which seemed to be made of energy somehow and was outlined with black, and she turned and brought it down upon the machine which she had been in when the heroes arrived, destroying it with a loud crash.

The girl’s change of behaviour surprised the heroes, and from the sound of it the villain too.

**“White, do as I order! Attack the heroes, kill All Might!”**

In response, White whipped her head in the heroes direction, as they were in between her and the TV screen, then brought her spear up and appeared to prepare to throw it.

The heroes eyes widened, and none of them wasted a second as they moved to get out of the way.

A second after they cleared out of the way, a green energy spear flew through the air and embedded itself in the TV, destroying it with another loud crash.

The heroes turned back in time to see White let out an animal-like snarl, then created another spear and let out a roar like scream before going back to destroying the machines in her vicinity.

Ectoplasm turned to All Might. “We need to stop her before she puts the structural support at risk or lashes out at us. Whatever happened to her, it’s clear something went wrong.” White was obviously supposed to have attacked them, but instead she seemed to resist, which brought her pain before making her lash out.

All Might nodded without turning to the clone hero and instead turned to Best Jeanist. “Can you restrict her?” he asked hurriedly to the jean hero.

Best Jeanist shook his head. “I’ve been trying. Whatever that robe is made of, it isn’t cloth or anything I can manipulate,” he answered with an annoyed tone as though he hadn’t already tried it. 

All Might clicked his tongue, then turned to Midnight. “Midnight calm he-”

Endeavor interrupted as he ignited his quirk. “This is a waste of time, I’ll put her down!” He announced before gathering heat in his right hand, then throwing it forward as he unleashed a torrent of flames.

White turned just in time to see the large torrent of flames approaching her, before they enveloped her.

She screamed as pain enveloped her senses.

Endeavor didn’t let up and continued to let his flames loose.

But then a strong hand took hold of his arm and wrenched it upwards. “What the hell do you think you’re doing Endeavor?!” All Might questioned angrily as he glared at the number two hero.

Endeavor glared back. “She’s a villain, she’s going to attack us eventually regardless. It’s easier to just finish her off,” he responded with an annoyed tone of his own.

All Might’s grip on his arm tightened. “She’s a child who had quirks forced on her to kill me, and you want to kill her for something out of her control?! When we get out of here, you will be fa-”

A flash of green cut off All Might’s rant, and his eyes widened as his vision was momentarily filled with red.

Endeavor’s eyes were wide with shock and his mouth open with blood dripping out of it.

And embedded in his neck, was a green energy spear.

Shock washed through the heroes like a wave. 

A second later the hero began to crumble to the ground, but All Might moved fast enough to stop him from hitting the ground hard.

Endeavor was laid down on the ground while All Might frantically thought of what to do, but all he could do was turn back to White.

The girl was still standing in her post throwing stance, but her expression seemed to be one of shock.

Then her mouth opened, before she screamed louder than she had so far while holding her head again.

For a moment she thrashed around while wailing loudly, as if she hadn’t wanted to do what she did.

Then she took one hand off her head and reached out into the air.

The heroes thought she was about to create another spear, but what happened instead was shocking.

A strange, indescribable sound reverberated through the room as the very fabric of space seemed to split apart, revealing a black foggy expanse through the tear.

  


A moment later, White turned and ran into the tear, and before anyone could react, the tear closed behind her, leaving the area back to normal, save for all of the destruction that had been caused.

For a second, all the heroes were stuck in shock.

Then All Might turned back to Endeavor, who was staring up at the ceiling while desperately trying to breathe.

The spear that had been embedded in his neck was now gone, having disappeared while everyone was looking away, leaving a large hole in the hero’s neck instead, one that was bleeding profusely. All Might grimaced when looking at it, it wasn’t a pretty sight.

All Might looked at it for all of a moment before realising his condition. _‘His jugular has basically been destroyed. He won’t survive,’_ he thought grimly while he grit his teeth.

His eyes travelled up and he locked eyes with the flame hero. “I’m… I’m so sorry Enji, but there’s nothing I can do,” he apologised while tears began to appear in his eyes.

Endeavor’s eyes widened with a glint of fear, and a moment later he managed to raise his arm and take hold of All Might’s arm.

All Might took hold of Endeavor’s hand, then turned to his fellow heroes. “Midnight, Use your quirk, please,” he pleaded as he looked up at the Rated-R heroine.

Midnight didn’t waste a second as she hurried up alongside All Might, then reached out to Endeavor and made a small tear in her costume.

Pink smoke flowed from her skin and over Endeavor’s face, and after a moment his expression seemed to relax slightly, but it obviously didn’t put him to sleep.

All Might look down at the flame hero with a pained expression. “I’m sorry Enji. I’ll make sure your family won’t suffer without you, I promise.” It was all he could think of saying to the flame hero, there was no other assurance he could think of giving.

Endeavor looked at him for a moment, then his mouth began to move, but the only garbled sounds came out.

All Might could still read his lips though.

**Thank you.**

It only made All Might tear up further and lower his head, even as the light in Endeavor’s eyes began to fade and his heart stopped beating.

Endeavor, the number two hero, was dead.

:CrabRave:

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Izumi's robe.](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/586454956400312321/735594500017094676/Bleached_Memories_Izumis_Resurreccion_robes.png) Here's a representation of the rope Izumi is wearing
> 
> [Izumi's colour scheme.](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/586454956400312321/735594465900757135/Ulqiora._Izumis_Resurreccion_form..jpeg) Here's a representation of the colour scheme Izumi roughly has, except of the hair, of course, but the wings' colour is the same as the hair.


	3. The Truth, and the Scandal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> July 25th. Chapter 1/1. 
> 
> All Might announces the result of the raid, and discovers a terrible truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read this chapter, I want to point out that at first I forgot to add a pair of links at the end of last chapter to a pair of reference pictures for White.
> 
> I hope you'll go back either before or after this chapter and quickly check them out. :3

“Speech” _‘thoughts’_ **“TV broadcast/Announcement”**

Enjoy

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**“We apologise for interrupting your regularly scheduled program, but we have breaking news from Tokyo, where All Might has announced he will be holding a conference in a few minutes. We’ll now change over to our affiliate present in front of the Might Tower.”**

Everyone watching TV at the moment blinked as the reporter on screen, who had suddenly appeared and interrupted whatever they were watching, then went on to explain that All Might was going to be announcing something.

Anticipation began to set in for most people. An announcement from the Symbol of Peace was always a momentous occasion.

The view changed to show the Might Tower, All Might’s agency in Tokyo, and in front of it was a small scene with a podium.

For a few minutes nothing happened, but then finally a familiar head of yellow hair walked up on stage.

All Might walked up to the podium as the photographers in the crowd took picture after picture.

But as the man walked, many noticed something wrong.

All Might wasn’t smiling his signature smile.

The hero got to the podium and turned to the crowd, but his head remained low for a few seconds.

Many began to become unsettled by the Symbol of Peace’s unusual behaviour. It was heavily out of character for him.

Eventually he let out a sigh, which the microphone heard, then he raised his head.  **“This is going to be a different announcement from normal, and I am not pleased to announce this,”** he spoke with a slightly upset tone as he looked over the crown, not with the usual cheery one he normally had when addressing the public.

Everyone was becoming progressively more worried, but All Might continued regardless.  **“Two days ago, I and a small collection of heroes raided a small facility that was thought to be used by a dangerous villain. While there, we discovered this villain had faked the death of a young girl while kidnapping her, then manipulated her into a weapon, one meant to have killed me.”**

Shock ran through the country at this statement. A villain had taken a girl, then intended to have her kill All Might? Was something like that even possible? And most importantly, what was the intention behind saying this?

**“But, despite having likely been brainwashed by the villain, the girl resisted and began to lash out in a seemingly feral state. During this feral state, she began to destroy much of the machinery surrounding her, including the tank she was held in.”**

A tank? Now most people were confused. She had been in a tank?

**“During this, Endeavor, who was present in the raid, decided it was for the best to put her down, against my wishes. He used his quirk to fire flames at the girl until I interrupted him, but then…”**

Everyone watched as All Might went quiet, while his expression and head lowered.

After almost half a minute, All Might looked up again, and his expression was full of sorrow.  **“It’s with a heavy heart that I tell you all, that two days ago, Endeavor lost his life after the girl retaliated from his attempt at her life and threw a spear into his throat, severing his jugular and causing him to rapidly bleed out.”**

Silence ran through the country.

Endeavor, the number two hero, was dead?

Then, the outcry began.

Questions, panic, rage, fear, all this ran through the country, and it did so loudly.

As Japan cried out, All Might continued.  **“While the girl escaped thanks to a warping quirk of some kind, we have every intention of finding her and catching her before she injures anyone else, but at the moment we have no other plans than containing her. While many of you will have your faith shaken due to this next decision, she will likely not be facing prosecution for what happened to Endeavor. She was not in control and Endeavor provoked her, this has led us to categorise it as self defence.”**

Few liked this decision, but those who were remaining rational could see the logic in their choice. It would take time before everyone else did as well. Few had liked the number two hero for his personality, but the work he had done for the community was undeniable. He had the most cases solved out of all the heroes after all.

As All Might finished, all the reporters in the crowd began to loudly ask questions, and for the next hour he answered question after question.

But the damage had been done. Japan was in panic, and whoever was able to kill the number two hero was freely roaming around somewhere in the streets.

* * *

The day before All Might announced Endeavor’s death to Japan, All Might had gone to someone else with the purpose of revealing the same.

All Might looked up at the Todoroki household with a sad frown.  _ ‘I hate that I have to do this. I hope they won’t hate me… But I deserve it anyway,’ _ he thought as he looked down to the front door, then began to make his way towards it.

He got up to the door, then raised his hand to knock on the door, but paused for a few moments.

Finally, he pulled himself together and knocked on the door.

For almost a minute, no one came to the door.

Then finally, All Might could hear the door unlock, then a moment later the door slowly creaked open.

A bed of hair with specks of red poked out and a pair gray eyes looked up at him.

The eyes widened after a moment. “A-A-All M-Might?” A young girl, probably in her mid teens, questioned with shock as she opened the door.

All Might tried his best to smile at her, like he always did, but he didn’t know how successful he was. “Indeed, it is I, All Might. Young Todoroki, is your mother home?” He asked as he crouched down slightly in front of the girl.

The girl’s expression flickered to one of pain or discomfort for a split second, which All Might only barely caught, before going back to a polite smile. “I’m s-sorry sir, but she’s in the hospital right now. Father will be ho-”

All Might brought up a hand to politely interrupt her. “This has to do with your father, so he doesn’t have to be here. Would you mind if I came in and spoke to you and your siblings?” He asked, knowing she had at least one brother, who he had seen at the Hero Gala with Endeavor.

The girl looks at him with a confused expression for a moment, then nodded before stepping to the side. “Please c-come in then, s-sir. My name is F-Fuyumi Todoroki, it’s n-nice to meet you,” she greeted as she introduced herself.

All Might smiled down to her again, then patted her head as he walked past her. “It’s nice to meet you too, young Fuyumi Todoroki,” he replied softly before continuing into the house.

As All Might took off his shoes, Fuyumi closed the door, then walked past him and waited for him to take off his shoes.

Once he did, Fuyumi gestured into the house. “Please f-follow me, I’ll show y-you to the lounge, then I’ll g-go get my brothers.” She turned as she finished speaking and made her way through the hallways of the house.

All Might followed the girl and arrived at the lounge quickly, which was very traditionally japanese, including the lack of chairs and instead having pillows to sit on and a short table.

He sat down at the table while Fuyumi went to get her brothers.

It took four minutes before Fuyumi and her two brothers came into the lounge, but the boys paused and their eyes widened as they saw the Number One hero sitting there, but recovered after a moment and went to sit at the table along with their sister.

Once all three children were sitting there, All Might cleared his throat. “Hello young Todorokis, I apologise for coming in without prior notice, but I didn’t have time to notify you as this was rather important,” he apologised softly to the three children.

They all blinked at him. “It’s no trouble sir, we had no plans anyway,” Fuyumi answered while she tried to smile politely to him, but it seemed strained for some reason.

All Might’s smile faltered slightly for a second, but he recovered quickly. “Right. Now, this news is… quite difficult for me to speak about, but please allow me to finish before interrupting me, alright?” He asked as his smile began to falter again, not that he noticed this time.

The three Todorokis looked at him for a moment, then they nodded in understanding, not all at once though.

All Might nodded in return, then took in a deep breath.

“Yesterday, Endeavor, your father, participated in a raid along with me and several other heroes. During this raid, we ended up in a room where a girl, who had been kidnapped and possibly brainwashed by the villain in control of the facility, was released by the villains. At first she was ordered to attack us, but she seemed to resist the orders she was given before lashing out. It was obvious at this point she wasn’t in control, and Endeavor decided to attack her before I stopped him.”

All Might’s head and expression finally fell as he got to the climax. “The girl reacted by throwing a spear at your father. He… he was hit in the neck, and we couldn’t stop the bleeding.”

“He’s dead?”

All Might looked up with surprise, and focused in on the youngest Todoroki who had spoken, as he recognised his voice from the Hero Gala.

After a moment, All Might’s expression returned to being pained, and he nodded grimly. “Yes. He died shortly after from blood loss. I’m so sorry for your loss. I tried my best but it wasn’t enough in this case. I sincerely apologise for your loss.”

Silence fell on the room for several long minutes. All Might didn’t what else to say, but supposed he shouldn’t, and should instead let them absorb what they had been told.

“He’s… He’s dead?” Fuyumi asked with a tone full of shock and disbelief.

All Might nodded, then raised his head to look at the three children, all of whom had shocked looks on their faces. “I promised him that I would make sure you’re all taken care of, and if you would allow me to, I would like to keep this promise. Are you three alright with this?” He asked as he looked between the three of them with a small warm smile.

The three Todorokis looked at him for a moment, then they turned to look at each other for a few long moments.

Eventually they began to nod to each other, then Fuyumi, being the oldest, turned to All Might and seemed to try and smile at him, but it looked more like a grimace. “If you promised him that, then we can’t say no. Thank you, sir, for telling us the truth yourself,” she thanked as she bowed politely in thanks, but her tone still sounded strangely tense as she spoke.

All Might chalked the tenseness up to his presence along with the shock of the news as he nodded, but said nothing else as silence fell between them all again.

The children still appeared to be in shock, and All Might supposed that would keep up for at least a week before it would properly set in for them that Endeavor is dead.

The silence continued for a long time, even as Fuyumi went up and made tea for everyone, but it was obvious that her mind wasn’t there. She then sat down and passed it out to everyone, only to be met with stoic silence.

* * *

At the Heroics Commission, along with the Prime Minister, a meeting was in session the same day.

One of the heads of the commission shuffled a stack of papers as he looked around. “So, what are we going to do about this… ‘White’?” He asked openly as he looked around.

The other heads and the Prime Minister stayed quiet for a moment. “Well, obviously we’ll need to capture her before she hurts anyone else, but beyond that…” One of the other heads sighed as he massaged his forehead. “Chances are the public will want justice for Endeavor’s death, but this could be ruled as self defence, especially with the official reports from all the heroes present, and beyond that, it’s clear from All for One’s words that she had no say in becoming what she has become.”

The others hummed before the Prime Minister looked around. “I say we have the heroes do as they’re supposed to, save people. This girl was quirkless, at least according to the villain, and had a multitude of quirks forced on her and was likely brainwashed as well. This means she’s a victim, and we should wait until we have all the facts before we make a definitive decision. We’ll capture her, get a blood sample to figure out her identity and known quirk status, then continued from there. Are we in agreement?” She asked as she finished putting down her suggestion to the heads of the Heroic Commission.

The heads all looked at her for a moment, then they looked around at each other for another few moments.

Eventually, the senior of the heads turned back to the Prime Minister and nodded. “I agree. We need to figure out her situation before we decide anything. From what we’ve been told, she didn’t seem to be in control, nor had any say in her situation, just as you said. We’ll put out a notice for her capture and a warning that she’s dangerous and may be unstable.” He looked around at the other heads as he spoke and got nods of agreement from them all.

The Prime Minister nodded. “Then it’s decided. White will be brought into custody and we will find out the truth.” She looked down at the rough sketch of White that they had gotten from the heroes recounting of her looks. She couldn’t help but frown as she looked at it, knowing this was likely once a little girl that had a life, which was wrenched away by a villain.

She hoped they would find her soon and be able to help the girl.

She couldn’t stand what had happened to the girl.

* * *

A few days after Endeavor’s death, and several visits to the Todoroki household, All Might had finally asked where the children’s mother was.

After a few strangely tense glances between each other, Fuyumi finally answered that she was in the hospital, and had been so for a long time.

When asked what for, the children went quiet and wouldn’t answer, which confused the hero greatly, but he supposed it must have been a sensitive subject.

Instead, he went to the hospital that he had been told their mother was at.

He arrived between breakfast and lunch and entered into the lobby.

The first thing he did was walk up to the front desk, all the while ignoring the stares aimed at him as he walked along.

As he got to the desk, he cleared his throat as he looked down at the nurse, who was typing away at a computer. “Good morning wh- ALL MIGHT?!” She questioned with shock as she looked up and realised who she was talking to.

All Might smiled down at her. “Hello Miss, I’m here to meet with Miss Todoroki, could you point me to her room?” he asked politely.

The nurse stared at him for a moment, then she made a few unintelligible sounds for a moment before finding her words. “U-Um, y-yes sir, s-second floor, room 73,” she answered, gesturing to the elevator.

All Might nodded to her. “Thank you, I apologise for the disruption,” he apologised as he turned and made his way towards the elevator.

He stepped inside and pressed the button for the second floor, then waited.

A minute later, the elevator doors opened and All Might stepped out onto the second floor.

He looked to the signs, then made his way towards room 73.

After walking for a short time, the hero found the room.

He stood in front of the room for a moment as he contemplated what to say, then decided he should just do it. There was no easy way to say it after all.

He raised his right fist and knocked on the door, then waited for a response.

“Come in,” came the quiet reply from inside.

All Might took hold of the handle, then slowly pushed the door open and peeked inside. 

When his eyes met Rei Todoroki’s, the woman’s grey eyes widened. “All Might?” she asked with surprise as she stared back at the hero.

All Might smiled softly as he pushed the door open a bit further. “Hello Miss Todoroki, I hope I’m not imposing,” he greeted as he stood in the doorway.

Rei stared back at him for a few moments, then her expression recovered into a small smile. “Of course not. It’s been some time All Might, how have you been?” she asked with a soft spoken tone.

All Might let out a low chuckle as he stepped inside the room and closed the door behind him. “I’ve been well, though might I ask how you are?” he asked as his tone became slightly worried.

Rei blinked as she tilted her head slightly, then she seemed to realise what he meant. “Oh… I’m fine, just… recovering from something,” she assured with a small smile while she turned ahead.

All Might looked at her for a moment, then hummed as he walked up to one of the two chairs in the room and sat down on it. “Right, well, I don’t know how much you can see of the news, but I’ve come to tell you something,” he said as his smile began to falter, as did his tone.

Rei turned back to the blond hero. “I can’t see the news, all I’m told is what I hear from my children,” she answered softly to the hero.

All Might hummed. “Alright. I wish I could say I have good news, but I sadly don’t.”

He took in a deep breath. “Last week your husband participated in a raid along with myself and several other heroes. During this raid, we encountered a girl who had been kidnapped and manipulated by the villain in control of the facility, and after Endeavor attacked her with the intent to hurt and kill her, she responded by…” he went quiet for a moment as he needed to collect himself. No matter how many times he had to tell it, it never became easier.

Rei frowned slightly, but remained quiet as she waited for All Might to collect himself. 

He took in another deep breath, then looked Rei in the eyes. “I’m sorry to tell you that last week Endeavor was killed in the line of duty.” 

Rei stared at All Might with a blank expression for several long moments.

“Enji is… dead?” she asked with a blank tone as she kept staring at All Might.

The Symbol of Peace nodded. “Yes. He… provoked the kidnapped girl, who we assume had been brainwashed, but she had resisted her orders before losing control, then after Enji attacked her she retaliated,” he answered grimly as he lowered his head again with an ashamed expression.

Rei kept staring as her mind tried to wrap itself around the information she had been given.

She was in shock, even if she didn’t seem like it, and her mind was in a state of disbelief as a result. 

Enji had been powerful, very much so. Few had ever been a match for him, yet now he was suddenly dead? The oppressive presence of Enji was… just gone? Just like that?

It was difficult, impossible to believe, but… All Might wouldn’t lie about something like this.

It took her almost ten minutes to wrap her mind around the information and find her voice again. All Might, respectfully stayed silent the entire time, not making a sound. “He’s… dead…” she muttered to herself as her head fell to stare at the ground.

All Might nodded again. “Yes… I’m sorry. Before he died, I promised that I would take care of his family. Your children have already said yes, but I want to ask you as well. Would you allow me to stay with you and your family?” he asked as he looked up at Rei with a small smile.

Rei stared at him for a few moments.

“Are you sure?” she asked suddenly while a small frown grew on her face.

All Might didn’t hesitate as he nodded. “Yes. I want to help, it’s what heroes do. That, and I wouldn’t be able to face your husband in the afterlife if I broke my promise,” he answered with a small amused tone.

Rei looked at him for another moment.  _ ‘If he’s going to be helping, then he needs to know… He’s the only one who could make a difference regardless.’ _

Rei nodded slowly. “Alright, but if you’re going to be helping my family, then there’s something you need to know.”

All Might blinked at Rei. “Something I need to know?” He questioned with confusion.

Rei nodded again, then turned to look ahead. “The truth about our family.”

* * *

An hour and a half later, All Might left the hospital with a furious scowl and a new opinion of Endeavor.

_ ‘A quirk marriage?! That bastard brought Rei into a quirk marriage just to get back at me and make a damned ‘legacy’?’ _ He thought furiously as he stomped into the parking lot, then crouched and launched into the air.

After a few jumps, the blond landed in front of the Musutafu Police Force’s headquarters and made his way inside while ignoring anyone who spoke his name, including the officer sitting at the front desk inside the building.

He walked straight through the building in the direction of his friend’s office. He ignored all of the looks he was receiving, he was too angry to care anyway.

As he got to the door, he didn’t even bother to knock as he threw the door open. “Naomasa!”

Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi jumped in his chair and whipped to stare at the door to his office, where his arguably best friend had just burst through. “To- I mean All Might? Wha-”

All Might closed the door behind him, then turned to his friend with fury in his eyes. “I’ve just been told something highly incriminating about Endeavor’s actions towards his family. I need you to find any information you can about this, ask for Nedzu to help if need be, but this  _ needs _ to be investigated and revealed if true.” His tone was seething as he paced in front of Naomasa’s desk and tried desperately to keep his anger under control.

Naomasa stared at his friend and became increasingly confused. “What? Highly incriminating evidence about Endeavor? What are you talking about?” He asked with confusion.

All Might stopped in place and turned to look at his friend, still with anger in his eyes. “I just met with Rei, Endeavor’s former wife, and she told me something that… I am furious none of us noticed.”

Naomasa’s frown deepened. “What?” 

All Might took a deep breath as he walked over and sat down on the sofa Naomasa had in his office, then folded his hands as he leaned on his elbows. “Rei told me that… Enji Todoroki bought her from her parents and forced her into a quirk marriage with the purpose of creating a child with a fire and ice quirk, purely to create a ‘legacy’ that would be able to surpass me. During this, Rei had a mental breakdown due to the treatment and the pressure put on them, and poured boiling water onto her youngest son’s face. This was the reason she was put into the mental ward of the local hospital, unable to leave due to circumstances out of her control. During all this time, Enji had been abusing his family right under our noses,” he explained with mounting tenseness in his voice as he clenched his fists more and more.

As All Might spoke, Naomasa’s eyes became progressively wider with each fact revealed.

Once All Might was finished, Naomasa stared in shock for a bit over a minute.

Eventually, the information seemed to register for him. “Endeavor forced his wife into a quirk marriage?!” He questioned loudly as he shot out of his chair. He then looked around, and thanked God that no one else was able to hear them. This was something that was to be kept a secret after all, it it was true.

All Might nodded curtly. “Rei told me so herself, and she has no reason to lie about such a thing.” He turned to his friend with a serious expression. “This needs to be investigated regardless. A claim like this is serious, especially if it’s true, and while I don’t like bringing a smudge to Endeavor’s name after his death, this must be addressed, to show such actions will be punished harshly.”

Naomasa stared for another moment, before his expression similarly hardened. “You’re right. If possible, I want to question his wife and the children about it all, can you arrange that?” He asked as he sat down and immediately began to type away at his computer, putting whatever he had been working on to the side as this now took priority.

All Might nodded. “Alright, I’ll set it up, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the children will have trouble talking about it if he hit them like Rei said. They are so young, trauma like that must have hit them hard” He hated that part the most. The fact Endeavor had hit his children under the safety of his number two title, it was akin to a villain.

Naomasa frowned further at that, but nodded in understanding. “Alright. Tell me when they’re ready then, and I know you were already going to, but make sure they’re treated better from now on,” he said pointedly while side eyeing his friend.

All Might gained a deadpan expression for a moment. “I have every intention of making up for the many years they’ve had to face his actions. If you need anything from me, then tell me. Otherwise I shall be at the Todoroki household and making sure they’re alright.” He stood up from his seat as he spoke and made his way towards the door.

When all he got was a grunt in reply from the detective, he opened the door and left the office, then hurriedly made his way out of the police station.

He had another purpose beyond saving people and stopping All for One now, and he would see it through.

  
  



	4. White Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> August 1st. Chapter 1/1.
> 
> White has a day, and the public lets out a sigh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Before this chapter begins, I have a question for you all.**
> 
> **Would you rather want another chapter of Bleached Memories next week?  
>  Or...  
> A single _steamy _chapter of Lone Hero? Bleached would resume the week after.__**

“Speech” _‘thoughts’_ **“Radio/Phone”**

Enjoy

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The sky had gone dark long ago, but White didn’t feel tired, she had already slept enough the day before, prefering to be awake at night when there were less of those weird metal things that made a lot of noise.

She was standing on the edge of a building and looking down at the few people who were out late and doing things, but what she didn’t know.

She didn’t remember how long it had been since she woke up in a dark alley, she wasn’t able to count, nor did she know how she knew what counting was. Instead, she just watched the people with curiosity.

Whenever she saw a person walking alone without anyone else near, she always got this strange compulsion that willed her to go and hurt the person. She never did, because she was curious as to what they were doing usually.

Her stomach growled just then, telling her it was time to find something to eat. She did require sustenance after all.

She raised her head from staring down at the street and looked around for a moment, then she decided on the alley she would go to.

In a split second, she disappeared from the rooftop and reappeared in the alley.

She looked around for a moment, then she spotted what she had come to find as the place she got her meals from.

The big green plastic things, which she could open and find things to eat.

She walked over to one, then took a step onto what seemed to be thin air. She did this a few more times until she was able to look down at the big green plastic thing.

White reached out with her hand, then moved it upwards slightly.

As she did this, the large lid of the bin opened up by itself, revealing several black bags inside.

White scanned the bags for a moment, then decided on the one she wanted to check.

She leaned in and stuck her fingers through the plastic, then tore them open, without spreading the trash inside all over the place.

She ignored the smell that radiated out from the inside, having gotten largely used to it over time, then began to sift through what was inside.

After a few minutes, she had a small handful of food she could eat and stood up straight again, closed the bin behind her, and stepped back down to the ground.

White walked a bit further into the alley, then sat down against the wall in a shaded spot and began to munch on the food she had found.

She ignored the taste, since most of the food was close to, if not already spoiled, but it stopped her stomach from growling. Beggars can’t be choosers after all.

But a few minutes into her meal, the silence was disturbed.

A shout of surprise from down the alley caught White’s attention, and she turned in time to see a man push another up against the wall of the alley. “Give me all your damn money, or I’ll kill you, you got that?” The first man said, the one who was holding the other man against the wall, while keeping his hand near the second man’s neck.

White couldn’t see the second man’s expression, but she could hear his voice. “A-Alright, j-just please don’t h-hurt me,” he pleaded fearfully as he seemed to reach into his pockets.

For some reason unknown to White, she felt a compulsion at that moment.

Unlike her compulsion to hurt people who were alone on the streets, this one she found herself unable to ignore. She started moving before she knew what she was doing.

She didn’t notice when she grit her teeth, or when she put down her food and stood up.

She did register when she found herself suddenly behind the first man, reached out and took hold of his neck, then a split second later turned around and smashed him face first into the alley wall, hard.

The man went limp in her hold almost immediately after being smashed into the wall, and the compulsion White had gotten slowly went away.

She let go of the man, letting him crumble to the ground with a bloodied face.

“Wh-Who are y-you?” 

White turned to look behind her and focused on the second man, who was sitting on the ground against the alley wall while staring at her with a fearful expression.

She then felt a wave of curiosity wash over her as she looked at the man and couldn’t help but fully turn around and approach him.

The man went further up against the wall as his fear increased, fearing that this person was going to hurt him like she had the villain. Seeing how easily she took down the other man, was something that increased his fear even more.

He closed his eyes as she got close and waited for the inevitable.

When nothing happened for a good minute, he wondered where the pain was, and slowly opened a single eye.

He tensed up even further when he found the girl’s face extremely close to his own.

She seemed to be analysing or scrutinising him, but he couldn’t tell what specifically.

After a few more seconds, the girl stood up straight again and looked down at him for a moment longer.

Then suddenly, she disappeared.

The man’s eyes widened with shock, and his immediate response was to look around.

He couldn’t find her, and after sitting for a few minutes longer he pulled himself together enough to call the police.

It took no more than ten minutes before a pair of police cars stopped at the mouth of the alley and four officers ran in.

Three of the officers went to secure the villain while the fourth went to the man who had been attacked. “Sir, are you alright? Are you injured?” The officer asked as he looked the man over to check for any injuries.

The man shook his head. “N-No, just a l-little sore from being forced against the wall,” he answered truthfully.

The officer nodded. “Alright, can you tell me what happened? We were told someone wrenched the villain off you, then smashed him into the wall,” he asked as he looked back at the villain, who was being dragged out of the alley and prepared for transport to a facility where he would be checked over for his injuries.

The man nodded. “Y-Yes, it was a g-girl, she grabbed the villain and smashed him into the wall, then let him go after,” he answered affirmatively.

The mention of a girl set off warning signals in the officer’s head as he whipped back to him. “A girl? Did you get a good look at her?” He asked with a slightly hurried tone.

The man gained a slightly confused expression as he looked at the officer. “Um, she had white skin, like snow white, um, green eyes with black sclera, four pitch black dots on her cheeks in a diamond pattern, a pair of black wings and… I think her clothes looked like a robe, but I didn’t focus on that,” he explained as he wracked his brain for what he had seen.

The officer’s expression was now set in shock. “Did she try to attack you?” He asked hurriedly once more, now with worry mixed into his voice.

The man looked at the officer for a moment, then shook his head. “No, she just… got close and looked at me, then disappeared,” he answered truthfully again.

The officer looked at him for a moment, then he nodded as his expression hardened. “Alright. Thank you for answering truthfully sir. Would you like to be checked out at the hospital before we send you on your way?”

The man looked at the officer for a moment, then shook his head. “No, I’m just a bit sore. I’ll make my way home myself, I live just down the block, but thank you for the offer,” he answered as he pushed himself up from the floor, then gave the officer an appreciative smile.

The officer nodded in understanding. “Alright. Be careful on your way home sir.”

The man let out a dry chuckle. “I’m definitely going to be extra careful from here on out,” he answered with equally dry amusement before turning to leave the alley and making his way home.

As he left, the officer looked after him for a moment, then turned and went towards his police car.

He sat in, then immediately grabbed for the radio and changed it to a different setting. “This is car fourty-two, calling Detective Tsukauchi,” he said as he spoke into the radio, then went quiet as he waited for a response.

He got a response quickly. **“This is Detective Tsukauchi, what is it car fourty-two?”** The detective asked, though he sounded as if his attention was mostly elsewhere.

The officer didn’t care and continued. “Sir, I’ve just had a confirmed sighting of White.”

There was no response for a few moments.

**“What?! Are you sure?!”** Tsukauchi questioned with clear shock as he yelled into the radio.

“Yes sir, the description matches out. White skin, green eyes with black sclera, four black dots on her cheeks in a diamond pattern, a pair of black wings and a robe.” The officer answered, unperturbed by the detective’s shout, knowing full well that this was a major development.

Tsukauchi went quiet for a few moments.

**“Good work. Give me the address you were at and a quick briefing of what happened, I’ll make sure heroes are sent to the area.”**

The officer couldn’t help but smile. “Yes sir.” 

* * *

In his office, Naomasa Tsukauchi wrote down the address he had been given by the officer, then dismissed him as he put down the radio.

A moment later, he brought both hands up to his face, then slowly dragged them down. “Four months… It’s been four months since the raid, and only now do we have a lead as to where she is,” he muttered to himself with a tired tone.

Indeed. Four months had passed since the raid and White’s disappearance. 

Despite an increase in patrols throughout Musutafu and the surrounding cities, there had been no sightings or attacks attributed to her, before now.

It confused him and everyone involved in finding her. She had seemed so aggressive before she had escaped that everyone thought it would be a matter of time before she attacked and killed someone.

But they had evidently been proven wrong. According to the testimony the officer had gotten from the victim, the girl had appeared out of nowhere, knocked the villain unconscious, then simply left. 

It was so confusing to him, but he was grateful at the same time that she hadn’t killed anyone, because making sure she didn’t face legal action would have been difficult otherwise. The act in fact, was closer to vigilantism than villainy.

Naomasa pulled himself together after a moment and reached for his phone, then called the number of the one person he knew should be the one to find the girl.

He pulled the phone up to his ear and waited for the other side to pick up.

After a few seconds the call was accepted. **“What?”** Came a dreary voice from the other side.

Tsukauchi couldn’t help the small smile that came to his face. “Aizawa, She’s been sighted.”

* * *

The second Aizawa had been told that White had been spotted, and while helping someone no less, he had immediately asked where, then hurried in the direction of the alley.

He had luckily been near, so it took him no longer than fifteen minutes before he arrived at the alley.

Aizawa jumped down into the alley, which the police had already vacated, and looked around for a moment as he stood up. _‘Let’s see if there are any clues as to why she was here,’_ he thought as he looked around the alley for a moment.

He decided to start at the mouth, where the victim had initially been pulled in by the villain, and walked up to the area. 

He came to a stop at the entrance and could easily see where White had apparently smashed the villain’s face into the wall, but other than that he could see no evidence of her having been there.

After being sure he couldn’t find anything, he turned and began to make his way back into the alley.

As he walked through, he made sure to examine every inch of the walls, ground, bags and trash bins. There could have been any numbers of reasons as to why White had been in the alley, so he needed to explore every possibility. 

Eventually as he opened another bin, he found a possible clue.

One of the trash bags inside was torn open and the trash inside looked like it had been shifted.

Aizawa frowned at this. _‘Could she have been…’_

He closed the bin again as he gained a suspicion, then went to continue down the alley, but ignored the rest of the bins for now as he examined the ground.

Then, he spotted what he had been looking for.

Discarded food scraps, ones that clearly hadn’t been there for long but were also visibly old, likely near rotten.

His suspicion was most likely correct.

She had been there for food, and just happened to see the villain attacking the victim.

But if she had been interrupted mid meal, as it seemed from the half eaten state of one of the food items, then perhaps she had continued on to find more elsewhere.

It had only been close to an hour since the incident occured, and Aizawa hoped he would be able to find her nearby. The victim never stated she disappeared in the rift as she did in the raid, so perhaps it was some form of super speed or another, shorter ranged teleportation quirk. All Might had told him and the other heroes that had been present at the raid that All for One could have given her any number of quirks with all kinds of functions. Super speed and teleportation was in no way out of the realm of possibility.

Aizawa hurriedly used his capture scarf to pull himself back up to the rooftops, then began to make his way from alley to alley in hope of finding the girl while the trail was still fresh, even if the chances of finding her were extremely low.

And somehow, against all luck and odds, thirty minutes later, Aizawa passed over an alley, only for a flash of white to catch his attention and make him stop and turn.

He peered over the edge of the rooftop as he crouched down and looked into the alley.

The underground hero scanned the alley for a moment, then he found what he had seen.

There, barely illuminated by the moonlight, was a small, white and black figure, and they seemed to be holding something.

Aizawa frowned as he knew who it was and what they were doing. It was White, and she was indeed eating. _‘Just as I thought. She’s eating, and she’s eating trash.’_ He hated this fact the most. She had been kidnapped and forced to play the part of the villain, and now lived on the streets while eating old food from the trash bins.

But now, he had found her, and he intended to make sure she wouldn’t be staying out here, or going into a jail cell for what happened during the raid.

But if the rumours he had heard about Endeavor from Nedzu were true, then he knew the public wouldn’t want her put away for much longer.

Aizawa made his move and used his scarf to quietly lower himself down into the alley.

Once on the ground, he slowly and carefully made his way down the alley towards the girl.

As he did, he could hear her as she chewed on the near rotting food, and it was in no way a nice sound.

He hid behind one of the nearby bins for a moment and looked around it at White.

She held a small frown as she ate, but whether it was from the food or not he couldn’t tell. She also seemed to be very dirty, definitely from living on the streets, for four months, alone.

Aizawa grit his teeth. To most he may seem uncaring and gruff, but the truth was that if there was one thing he couldn’t stand, it was children being mistreated. He had been one such child when he was younger.

He took in a deep but quiet breath, then slowly moved out from behind the bin. “Hey, kid,” he called out with the softest voice he could. 

White jumped in surprise as her head whipped in Aizawa’s direction, but barely a second later her expression morphed into the look of feral anger she had had during the raid.

Before Aizawa had a proper chance to fully register it, the girl disappeared from her place on the ground against the wall, then suddenly reappeared right in his face.

Shocked filled the underground hero, but before he had a chance to move, the girl’s hand was already on his neck.

Luckily for Aizawa, his years of experience in the field kicked in and he activated his quirk, cancelling whatever quirks the girl had.

What happened next brought even more shock to his system.

White’s eyes suddenly rolled into the back of her head, then she let go of his neck before beginning to fall to the ground.

Again, Aizawa’s instincts kicked in and he managed to catch her before she hit the ground, while still using his quirk.

But then something strange happened.

The girl’s body seemed to become shrouded in a mist of some kind, which made it almost impossible for Aizawa to see her, but it only lasted a moment.

When he could see her again, confusion mixed into his shock, because lying unconscious in his arms was a young girl, without any clothes and a hole in her chest.

Aizawa quickly looked away. “What the hell? She changed?” he questioned to himself with confusion. Was this some aspect of the quirks she had been given? 

He took a breath to calm himself, then he looked down at her again.

What immediately caught his attention this time, was the fact that there was a sword resting on top of her.

He stared at the sword for a few moments. _‘She didn’t have a sword… I would’ve noticed something like that. Could that be…?’_

Aizawa shook his head. He could ask questions and theorize later, right now he needed to make sure she was secure.

He looked around for a moment as he tried to find something he could rest the girl on, but couldn’t find anything. 

He sighed as he realised what he would have to do.

He turned and made his way over to the wall, then sat down and laid the girl down in his lap and rested her head against his chest.

First thing he did was pull out his Quirk Suppressant Cuff, or QSC for short, and placed it on her ankle, which allowed him to stop using his own quirk. He knew the amount of time he used right now would definitely give him a headache later.

Second thing he did was wrap his capture scarf around her, to give her some amount of decency and warmth, seeing as it wasn’t exactly a warm night.

And the third thing he proceeded to do was pull out his phone and call the one number he knew he had to.

* * *

Toshinori Yagi, better known as All Might, awoke from his sleep to the sound of his phone going off on his night stand.

He blearily turned and reached over to the nightstand, then after a few moments found the phone, brought it over in front of him and pressed the accept call button without checking the name.

He brought it to his ear. “Hello, this is All Might…” he mumbled tiredly into the receiver.

**“Toshi, it’s Naomasa. We got her.”**

All Might’s brow furrowed in confusion. “You got her? Got who?” He asked, his brain not having woken up enough to figure out what his friend meant.

**“White. We found and caught White.”**

For a moment, All Might stared into the open as his brain tried to understand what he had been told.

Then finally, it registered for him and shot up in his bed with wide eyes. “You caught her?!” He asked loudly with shock.

He was quickly shushed from the other side of the phone. **“I know where you are right now, calm down and stop yelling before you wake them up.”**

All Might immediately clapped a hand over his mouth. “Right, sorry.” He apologised with a lower voice.

Naomasa hummed from the other side. **“Right. Well, Eraserhead managed to locate her after an eyewitness was saved by her from a villain. I’ve sent an entourage of officers and heroes to escort her to the holding facility, but she apparently passed out after her quirk was erased by Eraserhead, so we aren’t expecting much resistance for the time being.”**

All Might blinked, then gained a small frown. “She saved someone from a villain?” He asked with confusion and surprise.

**“Yes. Eraser thinks she was in the alley because she was eating, but we have no idea why she decided to stop the villain. She also didn’t do more than apparently grab the villain by the neck and smash him face first into the wall, but since we have no indication if she used a quirk or not, that would be ruled as defending another person and not assault. But anyway, she’s been equipped with a QSC, so we aren’t expecting much more trouble from her, unless she wakes up during transport. Even then, she can’t do much.”**

All Might hummed as he turned to sit on the edge of his bed. “So, what now then? What will happen from here on out?” he asked with a strangely tense tone. 

Naomasa didn’t answer immediately. **“We’ll figure out her identity, her mental state and how much of a danger she is, then work from there. Look, I don’t want her to face jail time or anything like that either, but if the evidence points towards her intentionally killing Endeavor, then there’s little we can do, alright?”**

All Might didn’t respond for a few moments, then sighed sadly. “I know… I’ll come to the facility in the morning, I want to see her for myself,” he said as his expression and tone turned serious.

**“I knew you'd say that. I’ll send you the address later, but you can’t bring Rei or the children, since this is basically a high security prison.”**

All Might huffed. He didn’t like calling it that, especially when a little girl was going to be in there. “I know. Thank you for calling me Naomasa, I’ll speak to you later.”

**“Right, get some more sleep Toshi, I’ll see you later.”**

All Might hummed one last time, then pulled the phone away from his ear and ended the call, then set the phone back on his nightstand.

He brought his large hands up to his face and dragged them down after a moment as he let out a sigh.

Finally, finally they had caught her, after four months of searching.

There hadn’t been one day during those four months where he had not worried for the girl or had wanted to go out and try to search for her himself, but there were other heroes better suited to doing that than he was, and he had accepted that.

Still, he regretted deeply that it had taken them this long to find her. Why had it even taken so long? Why had she been so difficult to find?

He let out a heavy sigh as he practically deflated. “This has taken too long, far too long…”

“Toshinori? Is something wrong?”

All Might turned to the door to his room, and his sunken blue eyes met Rei’s grey ones. “Oh, did I wake you Rei?” He asked with a sheepish and apologetic smile.

Rei held a slightly worried frown as she walked through the door in her nightgown. “I heard you shout for a moment, what happened?” She asked worriedly as she walked over and set next to All Might on the side of his bed.

After Endeavor’s death and the discovery of what he had been doing to his family, All Might had asked the family if they wanted to move in with him in his own large estate. He was worried that continuing to stay in the Todoroki household would continuously bring up bad memories for them. They had agreed with little convincing on the hero’s part, and had moved into All Might’s Musutafu estate about three weeks after Endeavor’s death.

They had also held the hero’s funeral in that space of time, and they had allowed it to be public.

Not an incredibly large number of people had shown up, the man wasn’t a popular hero with the masses after all, his attitude being off putting to most. To the masses, he was just a powerful one with the most solved villain cases.

That being said, the investigation into what he had been doing to his family was still ongoing, even four months after. The reason for this was simply all the red tape everywhere. Endeavor had thoroughly covered his tracks with all sorts of tricks, from bribing officials to hiring hackers. While Nedzu was a part of the investigation, even he could only work so fast with his duties as principal of UA university, Japan’s most prestigious hero school.

All Might turned to look down at the floor as he stayed quiet for a moment. “They… It was Naomasa. He called to tell me that they finally found White. She’s being taken to a facility where we’ll figure everything out, including whether she should be prosecuted for Endeavor’s death,” he answered with a frown. He had told Rei about White, as he felt she deserved to know everything.

Rei’s eyes widened with surprise. “Really?” 

All Might nodded, but said nothing further. 

Rei looked at him for a few moments, then she hummed. “Well, I don’t intend to try and press charges, you know that already. She’s a child, and… while I would have preferred for it to happen in another way, she did save us from his abuse. If she truly didn’t have any control over her actions, then I hold nothing against her.” She leaned into All Might’s side as she spoke, to try and comfort him and make him feel better. She had already told All Might this, but she knew how worried he was about the girl. 

All Might hummed. “I know.” He then let out a sigh. “I just… I hate that she’s had to go through all this. Does she remember any of what was done to her? Does she remember anything from before she was taken? I just… No child should have to go through such an experience.” His expression and tone fell with each word he spoke and an increasing feeling of pain and sadness grew in his chest.

Rei frowned slightly as well. “I know, and I agree with you. I know you’ll make sure she’s treated well,” she replied softly as she turned her head slightly so she could look at the blond’s face.

All Might turned to look back at her, but as he didn’t he could help but stare into her grey eyes for a few seconds.

He pulled himself together after a moment. “Ah, right… I’ll be going to the facility in the morning, but I don’t know when I’ll be back. Are you alright to look after the children?” He asked with a small worried frown. While Rei had been well enough to leave the hospital for much longer than Endeavor had allowed, she was still in a slightly fragile condition. It would improve with time of course, but she had only been out for a little under four months.

Rei hummed. “I think I’ll be fine. Fuyumi has become very independent, so she’ll probably be fine without much help from me,” she answered with a small frown. While she was proud of Fuyumi for having done what she could to take care of her brothers, she didn’t like the fact she had to to become like this to begin with. She wasn’t even an adult, she shouldn’t have to be so independent.

All Might looked at her for a moment, then he nodded. “Alright, but don’t be afraid to call me if something happens, alright?” 

Rei grew a small soft smile as she looked at him. “Of course, thank you Toshinori.” She leaned her head back onto his shoulder as she spoke.

All Might grew a small smile of his own as he wrapped an arm around the white haired woman’s waist and leaned his head on hers. She always seemed to know how to help comfort him, and he appreciated it greatly on the bad days, the ones where he would have nightmares about his master.

They sat for a few minutes in comfortable silence. 

Rei was glad to hear that White had been found, it had been giving Toshinori a lot of stress over the four months that she was still out there, and she didn’t like seeing him like that. Perhaps now he would be able to focus more on her. And the children, of course, and the children.

Toshinori was thankful for Rei’s company. He couldn’t understand how Enji had been able to do anything to such a sweet, kind and beautiful woman. Wait, beautiful?

It didn’t take long before both of them separated while keeping their faces hidden and Rei made her way back to her own room with a small blush and allowed All Might to go back to sleep while she did the same with a similar red blush.


	5. Viridian's Dubiety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> August 8th. Chapter 1/1.
> 
> All Might arrives at the holding facility, and makes several surprising discoveries.

“Speech” _‘thoughts’_ **“Intercom”**

Enjoy

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


All Might, in his hero suit, looked up at the front of the holding facility, the one where White was supposed to be held at.

He had gone shortly after finishing breakfast with the Todoroki family, his mind being unable to think of anything other than the girl All for One had manipulated into another one of his unwitting pawns.

The hero’s eyes fell back down to the entrance of the building, then he made his way inside.

Once through the front doors, All Might went straight for the front desk.

As he did, the receptionist looked up and spotted him. “Ah, All Might. We were told to expect you. You’re here for White, correct?” The receptionist asked as he smiled at the hero.

All Might nodded. “Yes, can I go in immediately?” He asked without beating around the bush as he got up to the desk.

The receptionist nodded, then gestured to the side, down a hallway. “Of course, just go down to room six-B and knock on the door, the guards will let you into the observation room,” he explained politely to the hero.

All Might nodded as he grew a small smile. “Thank you.”

The hero then turned and briskly walked down the hallway he had been pointed to. He wanted to see the girl, make sure she was alright.

He found the room quickly, then knocked on the door.

It only took a few seconds before the door unlocked and a guard opened the door. “Ah, All Might. Come in, the girl’s awake,” the guard said as he stepped to the side and gestured for the hero to enter the room.

All Might frowned as he stepped inside. “She’s awake?” he asked with a slightly worried tone.

“Yeah, she is, and she’s not taking it well.”

All Might turned to the familiar voice that spoke this time and his eyes fell on the jumpsuited form of Eraserhead, or Aizawa as he prefered to be referred to the majority of the time. “Ah, Aizawa. What do you mean she’s not taking it well?” He asked worriedly as he walked up to the man.

Aizawa, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, nodded ahead at the large pane of one way glass looking into the room. “Take a look.”

All Might turned, and the sight he saw made his eyes widen.

There was indeed a girl in there, but she looked vastly different from the White he had seen.

But most strikingly of all, was the fact she was repeatedly punching the armoured wall of the large cell she was in.

All Might stared for a few moments, then turned to Aizawa. “That’s White? She looks nothing like the girl we encountered four months ago,” he asked with confusion. He couldn’t see how this was the same girl.

Aizawa nodded. “That is White. When I found her last night I accidently scared her and she attacked me, and out of instinct I used my quirk to erase hers. When I did, she became covered in a layer of thick mist for a moment before revealing her to look like that,” he explained briefly to the Symbol of Peace.

All Might stared at the underground hero for a moment, then turned back to stare at the girl, who was still punching the wall of the cell.

After a moment of staring, All Might spoke again. “How long has she been punching the wall? Why haven’t you stopped her?” He asked as he looked to the guard sitting by a small console that controlled the security measures installed in the room.

The guard turned to him with a small frown. “She’s been awake for about two hours, and she started about fifteen minutes after she woke up and couldn’t find a way out. She seems to be in a panicked state, at least from what we can tell. She also seems to have a lot of strength even with her quirk suppressed.” The guard turned back to the window and pointed at the girl. “Look at the wall. Even though it’s highly reinforced steel and concrete, she’s managed to make small dents over the time she’s been punching.” 

All Might looked at the area the girl was punching, and sure enough, he could see small dents in the wall.

It shocked him, and he couldn’t stop his eyes from widening and his mouth falling open. “My god… What did that man do to her?” He questioned.

Aizawa held an angry frown as he looked at the girl. “Nothing good…” He then sighed and turned to All Might with a slightly calmer expression. “We managed to get a blood sample before she woke up, and we got a hit in the system.” He reached into his scarf and pulled out a few small pieces of paper and held them out to the Symbol of Peace.

All Might turned to the underground hero after a few more seconds of staring at White and accepted the papers. “Is this..?”

Aizawa nodded. “That’s her last known profile. Izumi Midoriya, declared dead six years ago after the Musutafu Explosion. She was declared quirkless just a week before the explosion,” he explained as he turned back to look at the girl.

All Might looked at the papers during the underground hero’s explanation.

There was a picture on the first page, and when he looked between the picture and the girl, sure enough, he could see the resemblance, though he couldn’t properly see her face.

But this meant all of what All for One had said was true.

He had faked the girl’s death, then kidnapped her and forced quirk after quirk on her young body, all for the purpose of making a weapon that could kill him.

All Might grit his teeth as anger began to flow through him and he began to crush the papers in his hand. 

But, now wasn’t the time to be angry.

After a few moments he managed to reel in his anger and take a deep calming breath, then turn to the guard. “I want to try and talk to her. Can I?”

The guard sitting by the console whipped his head to stare at All Might with shock. “You want to go in there? She’s denting the walls, _without_ a quirk. Going in there is-”

All Might frowned and interrupted the guard. “I’m the number one hero. I can create massive gusts of winds just by punching. She won’t hurt me or be able to overpower me. She’s scared, either you let me in there and try to calm her down, or I do it myself, am I clear?” He said as he loomed over the guard with his hands on his hips.

The guard cowered slightly under the hero’s large form, then nodded, being unable to find his voice.

“I’ll be going with you.”

All Might turned around to find Aizawa standing next to him with his hands in his pockets, and he raised an eyebrow at the scruffy man.

Aizawa side eyed All Might. “I scared her when I found her. That probably has something to do with her panicking now, and I don’t like watching a kid like her being afraid like this,” he explained as he answered the unasked question from the blond.

All Might stared down for a few moments, then nodded in understanding as he turned to the door going into the girl’s room. “Alright, but stay behind me, just in case she lashes out, understood?” He didn’t want to risk Aizawa getting injured by one of those punches. If she could dent reinforced steel like this after enough time then they were anything but weak.

The guard looked up at All Might again. “I’m opening the door now, but be ready to catch the girl just in case she tries to escape while you enter,” he instructed, though his tone was still sounded a bit shaken after being intimidated by the Symbol of Peace.

All Might nodded without turning to the guard and instead prepared for the door to open.

The guard seemed to realise this, and turned back to the console and pressed the button.

A single beep sound sounded out in the room while a light above the door lit up red.

After a second, the light turned green, then another second later the door opened.

The sound of the door opening immediately caught White’s attention and she whipped around to stare at the door with narrowed and cautious eyes while backing up against the wall.

All Might and Aizawa walked into the room, and as they did the door closed behind them.

An awkward silence fell on the room for a moment as the two heroes stared at the girl, who stared back at them in an obviously cautious stance.

Eventually, All Might simply sat down on the ground and put on a kind smile. “Hello there young Wh- I mean young Izumi, my name is All Might, and this is my companion Eraserhead, but he prefers to be called Aizawa. We would like to talk to you, is that ok?” He asked softly to the girl while keeping his voice low and as unthreatening as he could.

The girl didn’t move and kept staring cautiously at the two people. One was sitting, the other was standing against the wall.

But she recognised the second man. He was the one who had scared her before everything went dark. She didn’t know what to think of this man as she wasn’t injured after everything went dark, but she did wake up in this place.

The yellow haired man kept smiling at her, and for some reason it sparked familiarity in her, and… safety? “Are you hungry? Would you like for me to call for some food for you?” He asked, keeping his tone soft.

White stared at the man for a moment. She knew what food was, but she wasn’t hungry now.

But there was something else she wanted.

“Sword.”

All Might and Aizawa blinked as the girl spoke her first word, and it was one neither of them had expected. “Sword? What do you mean young Izumi?” All Might asked with confusion as he stared at the girl.

White, or Izumi, kept staring at the heroes. “My sword. Where is my sword?” She asked while she pointed to the wall behind her. Only the guards knew what was through that wall. The storage room.

All Might stared at the girl for a moment, then he turned to Aizawa. “Do you know what she’s talking about?” he asked with a low and confused voice.

Aizawa frowned as he kept looking at Izumi. “Well, when she transformed into this form, a sword appeared as well. They confiscated it when they took us here but I think they brought it to another room,” he explained as he turned back to the blond hero.

All Might stared for a moment. “A sword that appeared as she transformed? That sounds like a quirk to me.” He frowned as he brought a hand up to his chin and began to think, then turned to the girl while keeping the thoughtful look.

Eventually he came to a thought and decision. “Are you punching the wall because you want your sword back?” he asked as he smiled softly and kindly to her again.

Izumi nodded. “I need my sword. Give it back,” she demanded with a small growl as she bore her teeth.

All Might hummed as he ignored the growl. “If we give you your sword, will you calm down?” he asked with the same tone.

Izumi went quiet for a few moments as she scrutinised the blond for a minute, then finally nodded in confirmation.

All Might raised an eyebrow. “Do you promise?” 

Izumi frowned slightly, then huffed as she nodded again.

All Might smiled a bit wider, then he turned to the window. “Guards, go collect her sword and bring it in. I’ll take responsibility for whatever happens after,” he said with a slightly pointed tone as he looked at where he believed the guard was sitting.

For a moment there was no response, then a buzzing sound sounded out in the room. **“I’m sorry All Might bu-”**

“I said.”

All Might’s expression and tone changed as he glared through the window. “Give. Her. The sword.” He wanted to get on the girl's good side so he could help her, and he didn’t care about procedures or risks. This was a young girl, only about eleven years old, who had been forced into the role of a villain, and he wanted to make her feel as safe as he could, and he had a strong feeling the sword would help towards that.

For a few moments the intercom said nothing more.

**“A-Alright. We’re getting the sword now, but you’ll be held accountable for whatever damages or issues that happen after.”**

All Might nodded and turned back to the girl. “I already said I would do that,” he replied with a slightly annoyed tone. 

Aizawa was looking at All Might with a slightly impressed expression hidden behind his scarf. He hadn’t expected to see All Might acting in this way, but he would have to say he agreed with him. The guards were acting within the rules and regulations of the facility, but this was a case that fell far outside the usual ones the facility held.

For several long minutes, All Might and Izumi stared at each other in silence, with Aizawa closing his eyes as he leaned against the wall.

After seven minutes, the door opened again, and everyone turned to it to find one of the guards stepping into the room.

He walked up to All Might, then held out a sword to him. “Here it is sir,” the guard said, though his voice sounded a bit wobbly, and perhaps fearful. Whether it was because of what All Might had just done a few minutes ago, or the fact he was in the same room as a girl who could dent reinforced steel without a quirk, the heroes didn’t know.

All Might accepted the sword with a grateful nod. “Thank you,” he thanked with a genuine smile as he looked up at the man.

The guard simply nodded in reply, then hurriedly turned and ran out of the room, and the door closed behind him a second later.

All Might rolled his eyes, then turned to look at the sword in his hands.

It was a normal Katana design, but the blade was green and black instead of the usual dark grey, and the guard and handel were both white. The blade itself was black while the green formed into a design on the edge that made it look serrated. 

It was beautiful, if not intimidating.

All Might then turned to look at Izumi, and found her to be staring at the sword with a different expression from before. It was one of longing.

All Might chuckled, then reached his arms out in front of him as he held the sword out to the girl. “Come, take it,” he invited her kindly with a smile.

Izumi’s eyes flickered up to him for a moment, then a few seconds later returned down to the sword.

After a few moments, the girl took a step forward, then another.

Suddenly, the girl rushed forward at surprising speeds for a person with their quirk suppressed, but it was still slow compared to someone like All Might.

All Might watched as the girl ran up to him, took the sword in both hands, carefully raised it out of the hero’s hands despite her speed, and then ran back to the wall she had been standing by.

This had happened in the span of three or four seconds to everyone other than All Might, but thanks to his quirk it had felt very normal. It was impressive because there were at least a good seven meters between All Might and the girl.

Izumi sat down against the wall and placed the sword on her lap, then began to scrutinise every inch of the blade.

All Might and Aizawa stayed quiet as they watched this young girl meticulously check every inch of a sword she shouldn’t have such intimate knowledge about. It was… sad, but also frightening.

After several minutes, Izumi grabbed the sword in a single hand and raised it up in front of her, then closed her eyes.

For a moment the two heroes were confused, but then she turned the sword so it was resting horizontally in the air, then reached it around herself.

A moment later, she swung the sword horizontally, and created a large gust of wind that tore through the room and surprised both All Might and Aizawa.

After a moment the girl brought the sword in front of her again, then nodded to herself before putting it down in her lap and looking back to the two heroes.

All Might and Aizawa were both staring at the girl with shock. She had just created a large gust of wind, just by swinging her sword.

All Might turned to Aizawa, still with slightly shocked eyes. “Aizawa, we’re sure that the QSC is functioning correctly, right?” He asked with a shocked tone.

Aizawa didn’t turn to the hero as he kept watching Izumi, who was calmly sitting against the wall and looking at the two heroes. “Yes. I check my equipment once a week, and last time I did it was two days ago and I haven’t been hit or stuck in the rain during that time. It definitely works,” he assured while narrowing his eyes slightly at the girl.

Izumi narrowed her eyes in return while All Might hummed and turned back to the girl.

After a few seconds of staring, All Might grew a smile again. “Would you be interested in talking a bit young Izumi?” he asked with his kind tone back in place.

Izumi focused on the blond hero and scrutinised him for a few moments. “Why should I?” She asked in return.

All Might kept his smile and tone. “Because we want to get to know you and hopefully help you,” he answered happily.

Izumi stared for a few moments again. “Help me?” She asked with minor confusion as she frowned slightly.

All Might nodded. “Of course.” His smile then began to falter slightly. “You were taken from your family by a villain and he tried to force you to become a villain as well. I want to help you get your footing again and be able to live in the world without being feared,” he explained to the girl with a small sad smile.

Izumi stared at him for a moment again. “Why feared? Did I do something?” She asked with almost childlike confusion.

All Might blinked at the girl. “You… don’t remember?” he asked with an unsure and slightly confused tone.

Izumi tilted her head. “Remember what?”

All Might looked at the girl, then coughed into his hand. “Well, what’s the first thing you can remember?” he asked as he dodged her question and instead went another path.

Izumi looked at him for a moment, then raised her head and looked at the ceiling. “I remember waking up outside, I think…” she answered with a slightly unsure tone as her face scrunched up slightly.

All Might’s brow furrowed slightly. “So you don’t remember being in a dark room? Or flames?” he questioned further. It was beginning to sound like she may not have been in control after all.

The girl kept looking up at the ceiling for a moment, then finally shook her head. “No… I don’t think so,” she answered as she looked back down at the Symbol of Peace.

All Might looked at her for a few long seconds in silence. He hummed eventually. “Alright, well, the truth is you did something that is heavily frowned upon and many people are very upset with you about it. I, and several others, don’t believe you intended to do it, but we need proof to confirm this. If we don’t get it, you will get locked in a room that is much smaller than this, and they will take your sword again,” he explained with a small frown.

Izumi seemed to dislike his last claim quite heavily as she took hold of her sword and glared at him. “No one is taking my sword,” she said with a small growl to her voice as she spoke.

All Might grew a small smile. “If you help me, I will do my best to make sure they don’t take your sword from you. Now, will you help me help you?” he asked as he reached out a hand towards the girl and smiled at her warmly.

Izumi seemed to scrutinise him for a few moments again. “You only want to help?” she asked with a cautious tone.

All Might nodded as he kept his smile. “Of course. I just want to help you, nothing more, nothing less,” he answered truthfully to the girl.

Izumi stared at him for a moment again, then her eyes shifted to his outstretched hand. 

After staring at it for a moment, her eyes went up to the hero’s face again and narrowed. “Prove it.”

All Might blinked and his smile began to falter. “Prove it? My girl, what do you mean?” he asked with an unsure tone.

Izumi kept her eyes narrowed as her right hand went to take hold of her sword. “Prove you want to help. I don’t know any of you, you could be trying to hurt me for all I know,” she answered with a slightly accusing tone.

All Might was slightly taken aback by her sudden hostile disposition. It was weird to experience from such a young girl, who would usually be extremely excited about meeting him. As for proving to her that he wanted to help, well, he didn’t really know how he was supposed to do that.

Then he saw something out of the corner of his eyes, and he turned in time to see Aizawa sit down beside him. 

Aizawa sighed, then leveled Izumi with a tired, but serious gaze. “Look kid, I can tell you’re smart, so I’ll be honest with you. If you don’t let us help you, chances are your life is going to be over and you’ll be sitting in a jail cell like this one for the rest of your life. Me and the big beef head here want to make sure that doesn’t happen, but we can’t do that if you won’t let us. You aren’t getting out of here either way until we decide you’re not a threat to anyone, so it’s really the only choice you have,” he explained bluntly to the girl.

All Might’s eyes widened and he was stuck in shock for a moment at what he had just heard. “What are you doing?!” He asked with a whisper yell as he leaned in closer to the underground hero.

Aizawa didn’t turn to the blond. “Shut up and take a closer look at her All Might. Her eyes are sharp, sharper than any eyes I’ve ever seen from a girl her age before. She’s smart, cautious and mature. We can’t talk to her like a kid, because she sure as hell isn’t one anymore,” he explained as he side eyed the hero with a serious look.

All Might paused at Aizawa’s words and stared at the man for a few moments, then turned to look at the girl, this time more closely.

After a few seconds of staring, he could quickly see what the underground hero was talking about.

There was a sharp, calculative look to her eyes as she looked between him and Aizawa. It was a look he had only seen from two other people before, his sidekick Sir Nighteye, and Nedzu.

It unnerved him. No child should have such a look in their eyes, but he supposed that Aizawa had a point in that regard.

Izumi was no longer a child. That had been robbed from her the second she was taken by All for One.

He frowned with sadness as he kept looking at the girl for a few moments longer. _‘This girl is no longer a child. I can’t treat her as such, or she may not come to trust us.’_

“You’re different.”

All Might and Aizawa blinked as Izumi spoke again, this time while looking at Aizawa with a different look. “I am? What makes you think that?” Aizawa asked as he leaned on his cross legs slightly.

Izumi looked at him for a moment before answering. “You’re not trying to put on a facade. You’re being completely honest and not hiding behind a smile. I think I’ll trust you, but I won’t trust him.” She turned her eyes to All Might as she finished speaking and they narrowed into a small glare.

All Might flinched slightly at her words and glare while Aizawa raised an eyebrow. “You like honesty kid?” he asked with slight surprise.

Izumi nodded as she looked back to the gruff man. “Yeah, and a smile is another way to lie,” she explained bluntly to the underground hero while she aimed narrowed eyes at All Might.

Her statement hit All Might like a super powered punch to the gut. He had thought he was doing a good job at seeming trust worthy, but evidently he had been wrong and was in fact doing the direct opposite of what he wanted.

While All Might’s expression fell, Aizawa grew a grin. “I think you and I might be going to get along well Izumi. Now, if you value honesty like you say, then I’ll tell you why you’re here.” His grin disappeared as he spoke and instead gained a serious expression.

Izumi looked at him expectantly, wanting to know precisely why she was where she was.

“You killed a man, one who was very important and a lot of people are scared of you because of it. Many want you to go to jail for it, but we don’t think you did it intentionally. Am I right?” He asked as he explained to her briefly what she had done.

Izumi stared at Aizawa for a moment. “I killed someone? I don’t remember doing that. I grabbed a man and hit his head into a wall, but I didn’t kill him, I’m pretty sure I didn’t at least.” Her expression was set in minor confusion and thought as she looked down at her lap.

Aizawa shook his head. “Not that guy, it was someone else. From the sound of it, you weren’t aware of what you were doing at the time, which means you’ll probably not get punished for it,” he mused as his eyes lowered slightly to the ground.

Izumi huffed as she looked to the side, but said nothing more.

Silence filled the room once again as no one said anything further.

Eventually, after roughly seven minutes, Aizawa sighed. “I’m going to get some food. Do you want anything, Izumi?” he asked as he looked up at the girl with a slightly raised eyebrow.

Izumi turned to the man and looked him in the eye for a moment. “...Something good,” she answered simply with a slightly gruff tone.

Aizawa hummed. “Alright.” He turned to All Might. “Come on, let’s go get her something actually edible. We both know the food they make in these places is terrible,” he said to the blond as he turned and walked up to the door.

All Might blinked, but after a moment he stood up from the floor and turned to leave with the underground hero. Truthfully, he didn’t want to leave. He wanted to stay and try to find a way to have the girl trust him. But, he also recognised that it obviously wouldn’t be that easy. She was cautious, very cautious and evidently shared philosophies with Aizawa a lot more than himself. 

He turned to look over his shoulder as he left the room, and his eyes met Izumi’s, which narrowed after a moment.

Getting on her good side would be a long and arduous task, but one he was determined to do.


	6. Questioning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> August 15th. Chapter 1/1.
> 
> Izumi meets a new person.

“Speech” _‘thoughts’_ **Quirk**

Enjoy

  
  
  
  
  
  


Izumi was confused.

It had been a few days since Aizawa and All Might had talked to her, and they had both checked in on occasion, but not at the same time, and her confusion stemmed from one thing.

All Might.

The thing that confused her about him, was the fact that, despite not trusting the man, she still felt a sense of safety around him, as if she knew the man was someone trustworthy even if she didn’t consider him as such. 

She also felt a warm feeling well up in her chest whenever he smiled at her, but she couldn’t figure out what it meant. She knew it wasn’t a bad feeling, but she couldn’t get more specific than that.

Izumi didn’t understand it, and that unnerved her.

But the other man, Aizawa, fascinated her.

Despite the man being one of these… heroes, the man didn’t act like All Might, in fact he was the direct opposite almost, closer to herself.

They shared similar thought processes about many things, which made her feel consistently more comfortable around the man as he visited her. She was still cautious though, as if he shared the same ideals, he would be more intelligent than the others.

It was sometime between breakfast and lunch, and Izumi was swinging her blade as she kept her skills fresh in her mind. She didn’t really need to, considering before having her sword returned to her she had never used one before, yet she still knew exactly how to swing it without pulling something and the proper form needed for it, yet she felt… better when doing it, plus it gave her something to do as there wasn’t much else in the room.

She registered the sound of the door opening to her side, but ignored it as she was in the middle of her routine. It was likely just Aizawa or All Might anyway, and they knew about her routine at this point.

After doing several more swings, she went to the second part.

She shifted her stance slightly while she held her sword vertically next to her and her left hand was present in front of her.

Then she took in a deep breath, and moved.

Her right arm and the sword suddenly became a blur as she unleashed dozens of slashes in the span of just a second, causing a steady wind to flow through the room because of it.

Izumi kept this up for roughly twenty seconds before she stopped and let out the breath she had been holding, then stood up straight as she lowered her sword to hold it beside her, having no sheath to put it in at the moment.

She finally turned to the door, and found not one, but two faces looking back at her.

One was familiar to her, being Aizawa, but the second she didn’t recognise.

Izumi frowned as she walked sideways towards her bed, not daring to take her eyes off the unknown man, who was looking at her with a faint look of shock, but it was only noticeable thanks to his slightly widened eyes.

Once Izumi was by her bed, she sat down on the edge. “Aizawa, who’s your friend?” She asked with a slightly gruff tone while keeping her eyes on the man she didn’t know.

Aizawa didn’t react to her tone as he gestured to his friend. “This is Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi. He’s here to ask you some questions to help prove that you didn’t intentionally kill Endeavor,” he explained simply to the girl.

Izumi’s eyes flickered to Aizawa for a moment, then returned to staring at Naomasa.

After a few seconds of silent staring, Izumi huffed, then let go of her sword and left it in her lap. “Fine.”

Aizawa nodded to her, then turned to Naomasa, but paused when he saw the detective staring. “Naomasa? Something wrong?” he asked the man.

Naomasa shook out of his staring at Aizawa’s voice and turned to the underground hero, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. “Eh? Oh, um… Her quirk...s are being suppressed, right?” he asked with an unsure and slightly nervous tone.

Aizawa nodded. “Yes, the QSC works, we established this on the first day. She… The best guess we have is that she was given one or multiple mutant type strength enhancers, and because of that they’re unaffected by quirk suppressants. See the dents in the wall over there?” Aizawa pointed to the wall, the one Izumi had been punching the first day in her cell. “That’s from her continuously punching the wall for about an hour and a half. Her strength is no joke, but luckily she’s smart and knows to stay put,” he explained to the detective with a tired and seemingly uncaring tone.

Naomasa stared at Aizawa for a moment, then he turned to stare at Izumi for a moment, who was still sitting on her bed and staring at him.

After a moment he recovered slightly and took a calming breath. “Alright… Ok, so, as Aizawa said, I wanted to ask you a few questions to help prove your innocence in Endeavor’s death, as well as getting more information into your situation,” Naomasa explained as he tried to smile at Izumi.

Izumi frowned slightly again as she looked at him. “Why you? Can’t you just use what Aizawa and All Might told you?” She asked with a slightly suspicious tone.

Naomasa shook his head. “We can take their words into consideration, but since I’m a detective what I hear will carry more weight,” he explained as he pulled out a notepad from his coat.

Izumi looked at the detective for a moment in silence. She stowed away the information about the importance of the Detective for later. “Fine. Ask,” she huffed with annoyance.

Naomasa’s smile faltered slightly as he turned to Aizawa with a questioning look.

Aizawa shook his head. “Smiling won’t help, she doesn’t trust it. Best thing you can do is be honest and not actively try to gain her trust. She’ll trust you if she feels you’re trustworthy,” he explained as he answered the detective’s unspoken question.

Naomasa frowned slightly as he looked at Aizawa, then he turned back to Izumi and looked at her with a slightly sad frown.

Izumi on the other hand narrowed her eyes. “Ask what you want to ask. I want to get out, it’s suffocating in here,” she grumbled annoyedly as she crossed her arms.

Naomasa looked for a second longer, then he nodded. “Alright. Do you mind if I grab a chair?” He asked as he gestured to one of the chairs set up to the side by a small dinner table.

Izumi looked at him for a minute. “Fine, but if I say you’re too close, you’ll back off,” she answered gruffly as she waved her hand dismissively.

Naomasa nodded, despite being slightly put off by her gruff tone, then hurried to grab a chair and sit down a few meters from the girl.

Once he was settled in, he pulled his notebook out again and a pen, then settled his sights on Izumi. “Alright, I’ll begin listing off questions, and please answer them to the best of your abilities, and truthfully for that matter. Lying will hurt your case, so avoid it,” he explained to her as he entered a professional disposition.

Izumi looked at him for a moment, then she nodded wordlessly.

Naomasa nodded in return. “Alright. First things first, what’s the earliest memory you have?” he asked as he tapped his pen on the notebook for a moment.

Izumi kept her expression blank as she answered, though her gaze still remained cautious. “Waking up in an alley.”

**Truth**

Naomasa hummed, then wrote that down on the paper. He didn’t bother asking where specifically, it wasn’t important and he doubted she could remember anyway.

He looked up at her again as he went on to his next question. “Do you remember being in a dark room and being told to attack All Might?”

Izumi’s brow furrowed as she thought it over for a moment, then she shook her head. “No, I don’t remember anything like that.”

**Truth**

“Do you remember anything from before you were taken?” He questioned further after scribbling down her previous answer.

Izumi immediately shook her head. “No. The first memory I have is of waking up in an alley,” she stared firmly, though with a hint of annoyance creeping into her tone.

**Truth**

Naomasa hummed as he gained a frown, but silently wrote down her answer anyway.

As he wrote down, he didn’t see as Izumi's cautious gaze gained a glint of curiosity. “You seem so sure that I’m telling the truth. Why?” She asked with curiosity as she looked at the detective. This was only the third time she had ever instigated a conversation before.

Naomasa raised his head and blinked at her. “Ah, well, that would be because of my quirk,” he answered simply as a smile came to his face out of habit.

Izumi looked at him for a moment.  _ ‘His quirk. That must mean it likely helps him discern whether I’m speaking the truth or not,’ _ she deduced without giving away her thought process.

Naomasa continued to question her. “Why did you stop the villain last week from robbing the victim?” he questioned, this time with what sounded like curiosity.

Izumi looked at him for a moment as she thought it over, but then she had an idea.

She shrugged. “I felt bad for him and I wanted to.”

**Lie**

Naomasa narrowed his eyes as he frowned lightly at the girl. “Are you sure?” He asked with a slightly pointed tone.

Izumi stared at him for a moment.  _ ‘Seems like I’m on the right track.’ _

She rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why I helped him. I felt something… I don’t know, a feeling that forced me to,” she answered with a slightly unsure tone as she looked at the wall.

**Truth**

Naomasa raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know why you helped him?” He asked curiously.

Izumi shrugged again. “Nope.”

**Truth**

Naomasa hummed, but didn’t push further as he wrote down her answer.

He kept looking at his notebook for a few moments even after finishing writing, then finally looked up at her again. “Do you know precisely what quirks you have?”

Izumi’s brow furrowed slightly at his question. “Why does that matter?” She asked with a cautious tone.

Naomasa looked at her for a moment, and as he did Aizawa’s words from before he began rang through her head.

“We need to know so we can determine how much of a threat you are. We don’t know how thorough All for One’s brainwashing was or how deep it went. For all we know, he could have implanted triggers into your mind that would cause you to attack someone or maybe even yourself. If we know what powers you have, then we’ll be better able to stop you in those cases,” the detective explained honestly to the girl. It had been a question the Heroics Commission had told him to get answered, as well as several others, but this seemed to be the one they were the most worried about.

Izumi stared at Naomasa for a minute as she thought his explanation over.

She could sense the honesty in his explanation, but felt that it wasn’t the whole truth.

They had already told her that the public was scared of her. It wasn’t far fetched to assume those in power might be as well.

Izumi decided to try something. It could backfire, but she didn’t want to let them know everything she could.

She shook her head. “No, I don’t.” And as an afterthought.  _ ‘Know the names of my powers.’ _

**Truth**

Naomasa’s brow furrowed. “I see. You seem to know how to use a sword though, can you explain that?” he questioned further.

Izumi shrugged. “It just comes to me when I use my sword. Don’t know if it’s a quirk or not,” she explained dismissively, and this was true.

**Truth**

Naomasa hummed. “So it might have been instinctive usage… Alright, we can probably set up a test or something at a later date,” he mused as he looked down to his notebook and wrote it down.

As he did, Izumi grew a small, barely noticeable grin.  _ ‘Seems like I can work around it if I don’t directly answer his question. Helpful to know.’ _

But as her eyes drifted off Naomasa for a moment and onto Aizawa.

He was looking at her with a raised eyebrow, and she immediately knew he was suspicious. 

In response, her expression fell back to the slightly annoyed and cautious one she normally had, except this one was fake.  _ ‘Can’t give them any indication, stupid mistake.’ _ She was annoyed with the mistake she had made. If they realised she knew how to bypass Naomasa’s quirk then they may not let her out.

It didn’t seem that Aizawa had realised why she was grinning though, but he did narrow his eyes at her for a moment before returning to his usual bored and tired expression.

Izumi kept staring at him for a moment, then turned back to Naomasa as he looked up at her again. “Right, well, that was all-”

Aizawa put his hand on the detective’s shoulder, making him pause and turn to the underground hero. “Are you sure you don’t know anything about your quirks?” Aizawa asked with his usual expression, but there was a hint of suspicion in his tone.

Izumi internally cursed her blunder, but remained calm and didn’t outwardly show it.

She scoffed as she rolled her eyes. “I already told you, I don’t know,” she answered with an annoyed tone as she narrowed her eyes, while thinking the rest of her sentence in her head, just as before.

**Truth**

Naomasa looked at Aizawa with a confused expression. “Aizawa, I already confirmed she doesn't know anything, why did you ask again?” he asked with a confused tone.

Aizawa didn’t turn to the detective and instead kept staring at Izumi for a moment. “I thought some aspect of her brainwashing may have an effect on your quirk, but maybe not,” he finally answered as he removed his hand from Naomasa’s shoulder and sat back in his chair again, which he had pulled over sometime during the interrogation.

Izumi didn’t visibly react, but internally she knew she had dodged a metaphorical bullet.

Naomasa looked at Aizawa for a moment, then hummed. “That’s a fair idea I suppose…” He shook his head slightly after a moment and turned to Izumi. “That’s all I had for this time. I’m most likely going to be coming around a lot over the next few weeks, but the Heroics Commission and government should make a decision as to what will happen to you today. I doubt you’ll get out anytime soon, but if you stay on good behaviour then I’m sure they’ll give you more things you can have here in the room,” the detective explained as he grew a half smile while looking at the girl.

Izumi raised an eyebrow for a moment as she looked at him, then she hummed. “Fine. I won’t cause trouble,” she answered dismissively.

**Truth**

Naomasa smiled a real smile as he let out a chuckle. “Good to hear. I have somewhere I need to be, but I’ll see you again another day. I hope you’ll get something to do before long, well, other than practicing using your sword.” He stood up from his chair as he spoke, then tipped pulled a hat out and put it on his head.

He nodded to Aizawa, who nodded back, then the detective turned and made his way towards the door.

It opened after a few second and Naomasa exited the room, leaving Izumi and Aizawa alone in the room, thought they still have the guards outside looking at her.

Silence fell on the room as the girl and underground hero kept staring at each other for a short while. It wasn’t unusual, they normally did this when Aizawa first arrived. 

Eventually Aizawa brought a hand up and scratched his cheek. “All Might and I vouched for you about you being allowed to leave, but as Tsukauchi said it’ll probably be a few months before you’re let out. Until then, we’re trying to get permission to bring in books that you can use to learn about the outside world, since you evidently don’t remember anything other than your time on the streets,” he explained as he simply began to speak. He knew Izumi prefered more to the point conversations and disliked idle ones. She was gruff, much in the same way he was, and her dislike for useless conversation mirrored his own. He liked her in that regard.

Izumi looked at him for another moment. “Alright, that would be helpful,” she agreed with a single nod.

Aizawa focused his eyes on her. “Also, we’ve found your mom. She’s apparently in a psychiatric ward and trying to get over your faked death. It’s unlikely that we’ll get her out, since she’s not in the most stable of places, but we’re thinking that you might be allowed to go see her if me and All Might go with you,” he explained further, though he did frown slightly as he explained it. It had been saddening, even for him, to hear that she had never recovered from Izumi’s faked death. He hoped showing her that she was alive would help the woman, but it was very possible it wouldn’t.

Izumi frowned at this. Aizawa and All Might had both talked about her mother, but she didn’t remember the woman, so she felt no relation ot her.

“I’ve told you before, I don’t remember her. What will I say? ‘Hi Mom, I’m alive but I don’t remember you because I was apparently brainwashed by a villain who was trying to turn me into a weapon to kill All Might’?” she asked with a tone dripping with sarcasm and annoyance as she gestured around then finished with looking at him with narrowed eyes.

Aizawa rolled his eyes. “Yes, you said that last time as well Problem Child. We’ll figure it out when we’re there, but I think it’s for the best that we lay everything out for her immediately,” he added with a slight deadpan expression. He had quickly come to the decision that Izumi was a massive problem child, but at the same time he couldn’t blame her because of her situation. He wouldn’t want to be stuck in a box either.

Izumi huffed as she crossed her arms. “Fine. But I promise nothing. I’ll be nice, but to me I’ll be meeting a stranger.” She gave him a pointed look as she said this.

Aizawa nodded. “I know, but try at least. It would do her some good to know you’re alive, but I also know that you and her probably can’t have the same kind of relationship you once did,” he acknowledge with a small frown. 

Izumi looked at him for a moment with a frown of her own, but after a moment she just nodded wordlessly. She had some idea that a parent and child were supposed to have a closer relationship than other people, but she didn’t know much more.

Silence fell between the two again for a few minutes.

Eventually, Aizawa stood up and looked down at Izumi. “So, I notice you like to train using your sword a lot. Want to try sparring?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Izumi returned the expression as she looked back up at him. “Sparring?” she asked curiously.

Aizawa nodded. “It’s basically fighting to train and get better at fighting. It’ll give me a bit of an idea about how strong you are without all your quirks on,” he explained to the girl with the same largely non caring attitude he usually did.

This actually sparked Izumi’s interest slightly, and she stood up with a small grin on her face. “Fighting sounds like fun.”

Aizawa returned the grin. “Then let’s go.”

For the next hour or so, the guards watched apprehensively as Izumi and Aizawa sparred with each other in the room. Of course Izumi didn’t use her sword, but she still seemed to be doing well against Aizawa, even without formal training.

The guards made it official then. Izumi wasn’t human. 

She was a monster.


	7. Coincidental Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> August 22nd. Chapter 1/1.
> 
> Izumi gets some stuff, then smells the free air for a time

“Speech”  _ ‘thoughts’ _

Enjoy

  
  
  
  
  
  


A few weeks went by after Izumi’s first questioning from Naomasa, and since then he had come by at least once a week, sometimes more than that if there were pressing questions, but that had only happened twice.

Now though, Izumi was sitting on her bed, bored out of her mind, as she found herself to be as of late.

She had already done her sword training for the day and didn’t feel like doing more. She idly considered punching the wall, which she had taken up as another way to pass the time, but didn’t feel like contesting with sore knuckles for the day.

For one of the few rare times, she actually wanted someone to come visit her. She did like Aizawa, and she was slowly coming around to All Might, but she still wasn’t a fan of interacting with any others.

And speak of the devil, as the thought went through her mind, the door opened.

Izumi turned to look at it with bored eyes. She had stopped going straight to cautious after the third week of only Aizawa and All Might visiting her, with Naomasa sprinkled in here and there.

Standing in the doorway was none other than Aizawa  _ and  _ All Might. They hadn’t visited her together since the very first day they met her, so this was a surprise.

She raised an eyebrow when she noticed that the Symbol of Peace, as he apparently was, was carrying a box in his large arms. “Strange to see both of you here at once,” she noted as she looked between the two men for a moment.

Aizawa shrugged. “We have some things for you and I couldn't carry it all by myself, and All Might is the only other person who’s allowed or actually even dares enter your room that can carry it,” he answered dismissively as he walked into the room, with All Might following close behind so the door could close.

Izumi perked up slightly at the mention of having something for her and ignored the indirect remark that people were afraid of her. She didn’t care if they were anyway. “You’ve got things for me?” She asked with curiosity growing in her voice. She was bored and hoped this would keep it at bay.

Aizawa nodded, then turned to All Might and gestured for him to put the box down.

All Might nodded and did just that. “The commission has decided that you’ll be allowed to leave your room in two weeks time to go visit your mother, but before then they want you to have at least rudimentary knowledge of the outside world and the rules. They’re also getting you a scabbard for your sword but we’ll need precise measurement, which I was hoping you would allow us to take before we left today,” the blond hero explained while he began to open the on the floor.

Izumi listened to him speak as she hopped off her bed and began making her way over to the two heroes. She didn’t fully trust All Might, but she knew he wouldn’t hurt her, at least intentionally, so she was fine with close proximity.

As she got to the box she looked inside of it, but paused when she saw the contents of it. “Books?” She asked with confusion.

The two heroes looked up at her with raised eyebrows. “Oh? You know what a book is?” All Might asked with surprise.

Izumi looked up at him, then thought over what she had just said. “I guess I do,” she answered dismissively. 

It was strange. Sometimes she knew things she likely or definitely shouldn’t know, like now. Why did she know what a book was when she had never seen one, yet immediately knew it when she looked at one?

She grit her teeth slightly.  _ ‘I bet it was that man. I swear, I’ll kill him when I find him,’ _ she thought with increasing anger as she began to glare at the books without fully realising it.

The two heroes noticed it however. “Hey, Izumi, is something wrong?” Aizawa asked as he frowned with minor worry.

Izumi looked up at the underground hero as the anger fell off her face. “No, I just thought of something,” she answered immediately with her usual gruff tone.

Aizawa looked at her for a moment, then his expression returned to the usual tired it always was. “Alright. We brought you a few different kinds of books, including a dictionary, which you can use to see what a word means. I’ll help teach you how to read, since I’m a teacher outside of my hero work as well,” he explained while pulling up a very thick book and placing it on the ground next to the box.

Izumi looked at the book for a moment, then reached down and picked it up.

She looked at the front for a moment. It was plain, only having a single word at the top while the rest was a simple brown colour.

While the two heroes unpacked the rest of the box, Izumi sat down on the ground and opened the book.

Hundreds of words immediately sprang into her vision and she couldn’t help but blink in surprise for a moment.

She began to look over the words, but it didn’t take long before she frowned slightly as she found she couldn’t make sense of it.

What she needed was something to help connect the dots.

Izumi looked up from the dictionary and turned to look at all the books Aizawa and All Might were pulling out of the box, then reached over and took one of them while placing the other book to the side.

She opened this one on the first page, and began to look through it.

Unlike the dictionary, this book had pictures, and below each was a word.

Izumi looked at each picture and word for a few thorough seconds, then went onto the next and repeated the process.

By the time Aizawa and All Might finished pulling out all the books, Izumi was halfway through the book. “Hey, maybe let’s wait until we get all of these put away, then I can help you-“ Aizawa began with a slightly exasperated tone.

Izumi shook her head. “I’m bored, and this is interesting. I don’t know what all of these things are, but I’m beginning to get an idea of it,” she replied as she interrupted the tired man, but without turning away from the book.

Aizawa paused and gained a slightly confused expression at her reply. “You’re beginning to get an idea? That’s an advanced learning book, not the one you start out with as a child,” he explained with an incredulous tone as he stared at the girl.

Izumi turned to him with a raised eyebrow. “Advanced? So what, this is supposed to be more difficult?” She asked as she raised the book up with a questioning look.

Aizawa nodded. “Yeah. Here, give me that and I’ll pass you a beginners book you can look at while me and All Might put away the books.” He gestured for her to pass the book over as he spoke.

Izumi looked at him for a moment, then she rolled her eyes and passed over the book. “Fine…” she grumbled with minor annoyance.

Aizawa huffed, but didn’t reply to her tone as he placed the book on the pile, then picked out one he knew was for beginners and passed it to her. “Here, try this one.”

Izumi accepted the book wordlessly, then opened it and began to look it over, while Aizawa turned to All Might and gestured for the hero to help him put the books onto the bookshelf, which was installed but lacked any books, for whatever reason.

Izumi didn’t pay attention to any of this as she stayed seated on the floor and tried to learn from the book.

There were pictures with words on it, just like the other book, but this one she felt was better at connecting the missing dots.

By the time All Might and Aizawa were finished putting the books onto the bookshelf, Izumi had finished the book and was back to reading the dictionary again.

Aizawa frowned as he saw this and moved over to collect the book from her.

“M...Mot-Mother… A womon- no, woman…” Izumi clicked her tongue. “Damn it, this is annoying,” she growled lightly as she talked to herself.

Her words made Aizawa pause. Was she already trying to read the definitions of words?

He continued over to her and sat down next to her, something he knew he was allowed to since she apparently trusted him enough. “You’re already trying to read a dictionary?” He asked, trying to hide his surprise.

Izumi nodded without looking at him. “I want to figure this out so I can get out of here already,” she grumbled while frowning with an annoyed expression down at the book.

Aizawa hummed. “Look, let’s take this one at a time and go about it the right way. It’s easier to understand if someone explains it to you, which I will do, alright?” He explained as he reached out to grab the book.

Izumi let out a small growl, but then took in a breath and sighed. “Fine, whatever gets me through this the quickest.” She closed the book and held it up for Aizawa to take as she replied. It annoyed her that she couldn’t just do it by herself, but could also understand why. It didn’t feel like it was a thing you could learn by yourself, as much as she wanted it to be.

Aizawa nodded as he took the book from her. “Good. Come on, let’s go sit at the table and I’ll pull out a few books we can begin on,” he explained as he pushed himself up from the ground and began to walk towards the bookshelf, where All Might was still standing.

Izumi looked up at him for a moment, then scoffed and stood up from the floor and made her way towards the table.

She sat down in one of the chairs, while Aizawa picked out a few books and All Might sat down across from the girl. The blond couldn’t help but chuckle as he saw Izumi’s annoyed expression. “It’s not quite that easy to learn some things I’m afraid young Izumi.”

Izumi looked up at him with narrowed eyes, but didn’t say anything as she knew he was right.

After a half minute or so more, Aizawa came to the table with a small stack of books. “Here, we’ll start with these,” he said as he sat down beside the girl.

Izumi looked at the stack for a moment, then looked up at Aizawa. “Alright, what first?” She asked with a slightly impatient tone.

Aizawa side eyed her for a second, then went to pick out the first book for Izumi to begin on.

He decided on the easiest one, then opened it on the first page and placed it in front of her. “Here, we’ll start with this one. We’ll go through it and I’ll explain things as we go,” he explained as he looked at Izumi.

Izumi looked at the book for a moment. She was still a bit unhappy with the fact she couldn’t just do the process by herself, but she also wasn’t stupid and knew that she would need help, at least to start things off.

She turned to Aizawa. “What first?” She asked in a tone that told Aizawa she wanted to hurry along.

Aizawa pointed to the book. “Since you read through the other one and seemed to understand at least some of it, can you read what that says?” He asked while checking her reaction.

Izumi leaned in over the book and took a moment to see.

“I see some dirt?” She answered as she looked up at the underground hero.

Aizawa raised a slightly impressed eyebrow. “Close. It says ‘I see some birds’. I’m surprised you were able to catch so much by yourself after looking through a book once.” It was shocking really. Maybe they should bring in an IQ test at some point to test her.

Izumi hummed, then looked down at the book. “Birds… Alright. What next?” She asked impatiently, though now there was a slight amount of excitement too.

Aizawa couldn’t help the small grin that grew on his face as he pointed to the next one. “Try this one.”

During all this, All Might had silently been watching the two interact with a small smile. From where he was sitting, it was like watching a father and daughter spending time together, which was only reinforced by their similar personalities.

He hummed lowly to himself.  _ ‘Maybe I shouldn’t be the one to take care of her when she’s allowed to leave,’ _ he thought idly to himself. It was clear who Izumi prefered, and he wasn’t about to force the girl into doing something that she didn’t want to do.

* * *

Two weeks went by, and they went by much faster than all the other weeks Izumi had been in her room.

Shockingly enough, at least to Aizawa and All Might, Izumi had learned to read almost fluently in just about three days time. It would seem, as Aizawa had thought, she was no slouch in the intellectual department and she had proven it.

During the second week, Aizawa had brought in a non-math related IQ test and given it to Izumi, because the Heroics Commission had heard about her seemingly super advanced intellect and wanted to know exactly  _ how _ smart she was.

The results were shocking.

Her IQ was measured at 247. So high it bordered on being quirk enhanced, which was possible, but unless it was a mutant type it wouldn’t be able to function with her quirks still being suppressed.

They wouldn’t rule out it being non quirk enhanced, as before being taken she had apparently grown rather quickly, but they were heavily leaning towards it.

But now it wasn't about Izumi, well, not solely about her.

Now, it was about the Midoriyas, as a whole.

Izumi was sitting on her bed and reading the dictionary. It was a passtime thing for her now, as she didn’t have much else to do, but it was better than nothing and it did interest her to know about more words, especially if she could use them against others.

As she sat and read quietly, much to the guards’ joy, seeing as she used to either swing her sword around, punch the wall, or walk around angrily or bored because she had nothing else to do, the door to the observation opened and the guards turned to it. “Oh, good morning Aizawa,” the first guard greeted casually. They had seen much of each other over the last few weeks, so they had all decided to forego formalities, since they would be incredibly repetitive very quickly.

Aizawa nodded as he stepped into the room, followed by All Might, who greeted the guards as they greeted back, and then a third person.

The guards blinked. “Uh, good morning sir, might I ask who you are?” The second guard asked with a slightly unsure tone. He could tell the man was a hero, but not one he recognised.

The hero, who wore a mask nodded to the guard. “I am the Shinobi hero, Edgeshot. I was part of the raid where the girl was discovered,” he explained as he introduced himself.

The two guards blinked, then their expression lit up with realisation and recognition. “Oh right, I remember now. Sorry sir, we don’t follow the hero news that closely and the raid was a few months ago,” the second guard apologised sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Edgeshot shook his head. “No, it’s fine. I’m still a slightly new hero, so I’m not surprised that you didn’t remember me immediately, though the raid did give me a popularity boost so I managed to break into the top one hundreds,” he replied with a reassuring tone. He didn’t work for popularity anyway, he worked to help people.

The guards looked at him for a moment, then nodded. “Right,” the first guard said as he turned to Aizawa and All Might, “So why have you brought him?” He asked with minor confusion.

Aizawa was looking through the glass at Izumi. “Because he’ll be the third escort. The Commission and the government are allowing her to leave the room to go see her mother. Me and Edgeshot will be going in with her, and All Might will be staying nearby but out of sight, in case she does decide to run or something else happens,” he explained monotonously without turning to the guards.

The guards blinked. “They’re letting her out?” The second guard questioned with surprise, but also confusion.

Aizawa nodded, then pointed to All Might, making both guards turn to the Symbol of Peace, who reached into a pocket in his hero outfit and pulled out a piece of paper. “We have official papers to prove it as well,” he added as he held the paper out towards the second guard.

The guard blinked, but reached out and accepted the papers, then read them over.

The guard frowned the further down he got, then he hummed. “Yeah, this is official… I can’t say no, so go ahead.” If the government had given the go head then he couldn’t say no. They were the ones giving him his paycheck and he sure as heck wasn’t going to risk that.

Aizawa nodded. “Right.” He then turned to Edgeshot. “Come on, let’s go introduce you to her, but don’t get close and remember what I told you.” He narrowed his eyes slightly at the Shinobi hero, to get the point across further.

Edgeshot nodded in understanding. “Of course. I will keep back and do what you say,” he answered. He had been thoroughly briefed about Izumi and the fact she was very cautious with new people. He had to let her decide whether he was trustworthy or not and shouldn’t actively try for it.

Aizawa nodded, then turned to All Might. “Come on, let’s go tell her about the plan,” he said tiredly as he began to walk towards the door.

All Might nodded and followed the underground hero, while Edgeshot walked behind the two of them.

The door opened, and Aizawa entered the room as Izumi looked up. “Oh, hey Aizawa, All Might” she greeted casually as she looked down at the dictionary again.

Aizawa let out an amused huff. “Hey, but it’s not just me and All Might, we have a new person here too,” he replied to the girl with a small grin hidden behind his scarf.

Izumi looked up again at those words, then narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean ‘new person’?” She questioned with a slightly cautious tone.

Aizawa nodded behind him. “Today we’ll be doing something different and it needs a third person. He already knows about you and your past since he was part of the raid where we first met you. He’s also trustworthy, but I know you won’t take my word for it,” he explained to the girl.

Izumi looked at him for a moment, then her eyes went past him, past All Might, and onto the new person.

She looked him up and down for a moment, then narrowed her eyes at his face. “Shady, but Aizawa vouching for you has meaning. I won’t distrust you, but I won’t trust you either. Do anything I find threatening and my sword will be by your neck, not in it,” she threatened bluntly with no small amount of tense caution in her tone.

Edgeshot blinked at the threat. It was… much darker than what he had expected. Aizawa’s explanation didn’t do her caution or aggressiveness justice.

Aizawa sighed. “Izumi, I gave you a law book, right?” He asked with a deadpan expression as he gained the girl’s attention.

She nodded. “Yeah, and if you’re going to tell me I should know not to threaten a hero, then you’re stupid. I won’t be taken advantage of again, and if I have to threaten everyone around me to have it that way, then I don’t care about the other consequences,” she answered as her expression progressively became more angry.

She wouldn’t let anyone use her like All for One had tried to again. She would be in control of her own life and where it went, and no one else would.

Aizawa and All Might stared at Izumi with surprise, though they didn’t show it. They hadn’t understood just how strongly she felt about her having been controlled by All for One, as she had always seemed very uncaring about it and her new position. 

But, they would have been more worried had she actually not cared, but this… This was frightening levels of anger.

And with her power, she could become a danger to everyone.

They would have to make sure she reigned it in, otherwise she would never leave this room permanently.

But, that was something for another day.

Aizawa walked up to Izumi as she silently seethed with anger, then softly placed a hand on her head, the first bit of physical contact he had ever initiated with her.

Izumi’s head whipped up while her right hand went to her sword, but she seemed to pause as she looked at his face.

Because his expression was set in a soft, but sad look as he looked down at her. “Listen, I understand why you said that, but that isn’t going to help you. Threatening and pushing everyone away is only going to hurt you even more than someone betraying your trust.”

Izumi’s eyes widened slightly at his words, but he wasn’t finished. “I want to make sure you can go out and enjoy what life has to offer, but I can’t do that if you keep acting like this with new people. It’s ok not to trust them, but you can’t threaten them or do anything if they do something you consider threatening. If they attack you openly, then you can attack in self defence, but only then.” His tone was strangely soft through his speech, and as he spoke a smile slowly spread on his face.

Izumi kept staring, even as her hand fell off her sword. The words weren’t much different from many of the other times he had reprimanded her, but this time… 

The softness in his voice, and expression. It was new to her, but also felt… familiar.

She felt something in her chest at that moment, a blossom of warmth and a sense of… comfort.

Without realising it, she began to lean into the man’s hand.  _ ‘Maybe… Maybe he’s right…’ _

Izumi hummed. “Alright. I’ll try not to…” She answered quietly while a small rosy tint came to her cheeks.

Aizawa raised an eyebrow as he saw this and her reaction, including the fact he could feel her leaning into his hand slightly, but he didn’t comment. He knew that wasn’t the right thing to do.

Instead, cautiously, he ruffled her hair for a moment then pulled his hand away. “Good. Do you want to hear what it is we’ll be doing today?” He asked down to her while his tone remained soft for the moment.

Izumi kept her head low for a moment while a sense of disappointment began to fill her at the loss of Aizawa’s touch, but she didn’t show it as she nodded wordlessly.

Aizawa hummed. “Well, for today the government is letting you leave your room to go see your mom, and if you stay on good behaviour we might consider taking you out to a restaurant or something before coming back,” he answered while gesturing to the door with a thumb.

Izumi looked up at him and blinked with surprise. “Really? They’re letting me leave?” She asked with surprise.

Aizawa nodded. “Yeah, but only for today, but I bet if you stay on good behaviour they’ll be more likely to let you go out again another day,” he answered with a small smile.

Izumi stared at him for a moment, then she grew a small grin. “Fine, but only because I’m getting tired of staying in here all the time,” she agreed, though her answer was a half lie.

She was going to stay on good behaviour, but not just because she was tired of being in her room.

Izumi was also doing it because she felt she had to repay Aizawa for all he had done.

Even though she acted so standoffish, he was still putting up with her and being nice to her, and something inside her was telling her she needed to return the favour.

And for once, she wasn’t fighting this feeling.

Aizawa rolled his eyes. “Of course, but as long as you don’t threaten everyone around you then it’s fine, Problem Child,” he replied with an exasperated, but slightly fond tone.

Izumi let out a laugh. “Whatever you say old man,” she replied with a cheeky grin.

Aizawa’s eyes immediately narrowed. “Oi, what did you just call me?” He asked with a fake threatening tone, which Izumi could tell.

Izumi tilted her head slightly as she looked back at him. “I called you something?” She asked, still with that cheeky tone and smile that told everyone listening that she was up to no good.

Aizawa’s eyes narrowed slightly more, then he huffed. “You damn brat…” He mumbled under his breath, but there was a small smile on his lips as he said it anyway.

Izumi let out a giggle, the first Aizawa and All Might had heard from the girl, and it made Aizawa have to keep himself from smiling wide as a sense of pride filled him, while All Might did in fact smile, but not as wide as the underground hero would have.

She then hopped off her bed. “Well? Are we going?” She asked curiously, eager to leave the room.

Aizawa turned back to her and looked her up and down for a moment. “Not in those clothes. We brought you plenty a long time ago, go put on something you can actually wear in public,” he answered with a deadpan expression.

Izumi looked at him for a moment, then looked down at her clothes.

She was only wearing an oversized shirt, other than her underwear, which looked like a dress on her as it went past her hips to just about the middle of her thighs.

Izumi frowned, but rolled her eyes after a moment and turned to walk over to her dresser.

She pulled it open, then began to rummage through what clothes she had.

Eventually she pulled out a pair of jeans and a black shirt, then pulled off her shirt, much to everyone else's surprise as they hadn’t been prepared for it. They quickly turned around while she put on the clothes she had pulled out.

After a minute she turned around, went back to her bed, picked up her sword and it’s new scabbard, which was pure white just like the handle and guard of the sword, making them fit together beautifully.

She took the scabbard and wrapped the harness around her waist, which made it rest horizontally just above her tailbone, just as she had asked.

Izumi finally turned to Aizawa with a raised eyebrow. “There, happy?” She asked with a gruff tone.

Aizawa looked at her with an exasperated expression for a moment, then sighed. “Yes, that’s fine, but next time tell us before you suddenly pull off your clothes. Gave us a scare there. And before we go, remember not to walk away from us or try to run, because you will be caught immediately and put back in here and I can’t guarantee you’ll be given another chance to leave in that case,” he explained as his expression turned more serious.

Izumi looked at him for a moment, then she nodded. “Alright, I won’t run, I can’t with this thing anyway.” She shook her leg, the one with the Quirk Suppressant Cuff, as she spoke while looking down at it with an annoyed expression.

Aizawa hummed. “Right, but still, even just trying will get you in trouble, trouble none of us want you to go through, so don’t, alright,” he replied as his expression softened again.

Izumi looked up at him again. “Right.” 

Aizawa nodded, then gestured to the door. “Come on, let’s go before it gets too late.” He turned as he spoke and began to walk towards the door.

Izumi didn’t waste a second and hurried to walk alongside the underground hero. 

They went to the door, which opened after a moment, allowing them to leave.

As Izumi entered the observation room, she, for the first time, came face to face with the two guards she had been told were watching her during the day.

They both raised a hand in greeting, but said nothing as they knew very well she was slow to trust others.

Izumi just narrowed her eyes slightly at them before turning back to continue following Aizawa, with All Might and Edgeshot following closely behind.

They entered the hallway going to every other holding room and went towards the entrance. “This place is way bigger than I thought…” Izumi mumbled as she looked around at the continuing line of doors with a small frown.

Aizawa side eyed her for a moment before humming. “We get a lot of people who need to be watched for some time, so places like this need to be big to hold them,” he explained.

Izumi looked up at him and stared for a moment, then turned ahead without saying anything more.

They got to the lobby quickly and continued towards the door. The guards had all been informed about the fact Izumi was being taken out, so none of them moved to stop the heroes and girl.

The door opened by itself as they got up to it, and Izumi stepped into the outside world for the first time in about three months.

She couldn’t help but stop for a moment and look around and up at the sky.

It was a warm early summer day and the sky was clear of clouds. 

Izumi took in a deep breath, then let out a sigh. “Damn, fresh air feels nice after being stuck in that stupid room for weeks,” she said with a grin-like smile as she looked at the sky.

Aizawa turned to look at her over his shoulder. “Stop swearing and come along. We need to get going before we’re late to the psychiatric ward,” he said slightly gruffly to the girl.

Izumi rolled her eyes before continuing to follow him. “Fine, whatever  _ Dad _ ,” she replied sarcastically in order to trip him up.

But a split second after she did, she noticed that calling Aizawa that felt strangely…  _ right _ , as if she was supposed to do it.

It made her expression turn confused and caused her to miss as Aizawa almost tripped and made a choking sound.

All Might and Edgeshot however noticed both these things and shared raised eyebrows, but said nothing about it.

They got to the car soon after, and Aizawa sat in the back seat with Izumi while Edgeshot sat in the front with the driver and All Might jumped in the direction of their goal.

They drove away from the building a minute later and went towards Musutafu Psychiatric Hospital.

* * *

It was that time of the week again for Katsuki.

He was sitting in his family’s car as he and his mom, Mitsuki Bakugou, drove towards Musutafu Psychiatric Hospital. It was a trip both, or at least Katsuki, had done weekly for almost six years, and were on their way to visit Inko.

The trip had been silent, as it always was, the two ash blondes didn’t even argue like they typically did at home. It was the only true moment of silence they ever shared in their noisy household.

The car soon turned into the psychiatric hospital’s parking lot and settled into one of the parking spaces, both Bakugous wordlessly exiting the car, then went towards the doors.

As they walked, a black sedan with blacked out windows entered the parking lot, but neither Bakugou spared more than a momentary glance at it before continuing towards the hospital’s lobby.

They entered inside quickly, as they had gotten used to over the years, and went straight in the direction of the front desk. “Hey,” Mitsuki greeted casually as she and Katsuki turned to walk down the hall. They knew who the Bakugous were, they had gotten used to seeing the family within the first year of their visits.

The receptionist looked up upon hearing her. “Oh, Miss Bakugou, I’m sorry, but you can’t go and see her today, at least not yet,” the receptionist replied as she held their hand out slightly towards the two.

Both Bakugous stopped in their tracks and turned to the receptionist with a confused expression. “What? Why not?” Katsuki questioned incredulously. They had never been told they couldn’t go see her, they knew when she was getting treatment and always planned to arrive outside of those times.

The receptionist gave the two a lopsided smile. “I’m sorry, but we got the order from the government. Apparently there are some important people coming and they’ve scheduled this time to talk with her. During this time no one else is allowed to go see her, so please wait,” she explained with a slightly unsure tone, as if she wasn’t completely sure of what it was either.

Mitsuki walked up to the desk and put her hands down on it hard. “What the hell do you mean you got an order from the  _ government _ ? Why the fuck would they want to have anyone come talk to her?!” she questioned angrily. Her mind immediately going to thoughts of this being sketchy.

The receptionist looked slightly taken aback by Mitsuki’s sudden anger as she leaned back slightly in her chair. “P-Please calm down M-Miss, w-we weren’t given any information, o-only that it was highly confidential. I c-can’t do anything, b-but I’ll be sure to let y-you know when you can g-go in to see Miss Midoriya. T-They should be here s-soon anyway,” she answered with a nervous stutter, originating from Mitsuki’s hostility.

Mitsuki narrowed her eyes at the receptionist for a few moments, then grumbled under her breath. “Fine. Come on Katsuki, let's go sit and wait then,” she grumbled annoyedly as she walked towards the waiting seats installed in the lobby.

Katsuki scoffed as he turned to follow her.  _ ‘Who the fuck would have anything to talk with Auntie about?’ _ he wondered annoyedly as he scowled silently.

As he followed Mitsuki, the sound of the doors opening caught his attention, and he turned to watch a dark haired man with a black jumpsuit and white scarf walk in, followed by a guy he recognised as Edgeshot, a new up and coming top one hundreds hero who had taken part in the raid where Endeavor had been killed.

He couldn’t help but stop and stare at the hero as he and the other man walked up to the desk just a few meters away. 

“Hello, we’re the ones who asked to see Inko Midoriya. Can we go straight in?” the man in the jumpsuit asked as he seemed to do the talking between the two.

Katsuki blinked.  _ ‘They’re the ones here to talk with Auntie? Why?’ _ He wondered with confusion.

The receptionist nodded as he smiled to the two. “Ah, good morning sir. Could I see the order before I let you go?” She asked politely as she held her hand out to the man.

The jumpsuited man nodded, then reached into a pocket and pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to the receptionist.

The receptionist hummed as she read it over, then after a minute nodded before handing the paper back with a smile. “Everything’s in order, just go down the hall to room twenty-six and please remember to knock before entering,” she explained as she gestured down the hall.

Katsuki couldn’t take it anymore. He needed to know why they were going to see her aunt.

He walked towards the two with his hands out of his pockets. “Hey!”

The man and hero, who had turned and were about to walk down the hallway, turned to him with raised eyebrows. “Why are you going to see Auntie?” he questioned angrily as he stopped in front of them.

The jumpsuited man frowned. “We’re here on official business, kid. And as far as we know she has no siblings to speak of, so step back or you’re going to be detained, got it?” He replied as he threatened the boy lightly.

Katsuki felt his anger rise. “Eeeeh? You-” 

“KATSUKI, WHAT ARE YOU DO-” He was interrupted as Mitsuki began to yell at him while stomping over.

But as a giggle reached both Bakugous’ ears, they paused and looked down to the source.

“You two need to work on your tempers, not even I’m that bad.”

Their red eyes fell on a bed of green and black curly hair, jade green eyes and a face with four freckles in a diamond pattern.

Aizawa looked down at Izumi. “Don’t patronise them Izumi,” he reprimanded lightly as he narrowed his eyes at the green haired girl.

Izumi rolled her eyes. “Whatever, he’s the one who began by coming over and yelling at us anyway,” she huffed in reply as she crossed her arm.

They didn’t see when the two strangers kept staring at Izumi with wide eyes, as if they were looking at a ghost.

“Izumi, is that you?” The woman, who had been yelling loudly moments before, asked with a tone full of disbelief and shock.

Aizawa and Izumi’s heads immediately turned to the woman, Aizawa with faint surprise and Izumi with caution. “You know her?” Aizawa asked with a careful tone as he watched the woman in front of her.

She didn’t seem to hear him as she slowly stepped towards Izumi. “But you died… How are you here?..” She asked with a tone that gave the indication that she was in some kind of daze.

Izumi’s right hand began to inch towards her sword. “You knew me? Well tough luck, I don’t remember anything from back then,” she replied gruffly while she kept staring the woman in the face.

The woman paused at her words. “You-” 

Aizawa stepped in. “Enough. We can’t talk about this here.” He pointed to the woman while narrowing her eyes. “Give me your contact information, we’ll contact you at a later date, but until then you will keep your mouth shut, am I clear?” He was annoyed now, it was pure dumb luck that they happened to walk into people who knew Izumi from before she was taken.

But the boy didn’t seem to get the memo as he grit his teeth. “What the hell Deku… Where have you been?! Because you disappeared, Auntie hasn’t been able to take care of herself, and now you’re back to see her?!” He shouted angrily as he began to stomp up to Izumi.

He stopped as he found the tip of a sword pressed against his nose, causing a small drop of blood to trail down his face. “If you don’t want to be hurt, step back, or I  _ will _ cut you, got that, bastard?” Izumi replied with a threatening tone and a glare aimed at the boy. 

The boy froze for a moment as his shocked eyes were locked onto the sword, then his eyes trailed up the blade to Izumi herself. “Deku… Why the hell do you have a sword?” He questioned with shock, his anger seemingly forgotten for the moment.

Izumi kept her sword in place and her expression the same. “I don’t know you, and why are you calling me deku? My name is Izumi Midoriya, not ‘useless’, and you’ll find me to be  _ anything _ but useless,” she spoke with an annoyed, but slightly confused tone as she raised her sword up to the side, then slashed it just past the boy’s head, creating a small burst of wind that went through the room and threw any free paper into the air.

The boy’s eyes went wider as he took a step back in shock, his mind seemingly being unable to comprehend what he had just seen and  _ felt _ .

Seeing his shock, and growing fear, Izumi sheathed her sword with a twirl while letting out a scoff. “Get out of here, before I get angry,” she said dismissively while turning and walking towards the hallway they had been pointed to by the receptionist.

The boy and the woman, who appeared to be his mother, stared at her as she walked to the side, while Aizawa let out an annoyed sigh. “Edgeshot, follow her and make sure she doesn’t try anything. I’ll be with you in a moment,” he instructed as he side eyed the shinobi hero for a moment.

Edgeshot nodded then used his quirk to fold himself up and hurry after Izumi. 

Aizawa then turned to the two ash blondes. “You two, you obviously know Izumi. I need you to give me your names and contact information, hero’s orders, am I clear?” He ordered as he pointed a finger at them and narrowed his eyes.

The boy was still in shock from the looks of it, but the woman seemed to register his words. “I… Is that really her?” She asked with shock. Her mind didn’t seem to be able to comprehend that that girl was the one she had known years ago.

Aizawa huffed. “Yes, it’s her, but not here, not now. Contact information and names.” He pulled out his hero license as he spoke, hoping it would help make the woman pull herself together.

Luckily, it seemed to have the desired effect as the woman’s eyes fell on the card and her eyes widened. “I- Y-Yes sir, I’m sorry, h-here, I’ll write my number down,” she said with a hurried tone as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small card, which appeared to be for a fashion business of some sort, then a marker and hurriedly wrote down her number and name, then with a slightly shaky hand held it out to Aizawa.

Aizawa took it and looked down at the name.  _ ‘Mitsuki Bakugou, huh?’ _ He thought as his brow furrowed slightly before pocketing the card and looking back to Miss Bakugou. “I’ll contact you at a later date, but until then, you’re to keep quiet about this, got it?” He ordered with a serious expression.

Miss Bakugou nodded, but still seemed to be in a minor daze as she did so.

Aizawa huffed, then turned without another word and speed walked in the direction Izumi had walked, leaving everyone in the lobby confused and worried as to what they had just seen and heard.

Aizawa caught up to Izumi and Edgeshot quickly and found them both standing in front of the room they had been pointed to. “Took you long enough,” Izumi said gruffly as she looked at him with a bored expression.

Aizawa glared down at her. “I don’t need your lip right now. I told you not to threaten an-”

Izumi grew a glare as she interrupted him. “You obviously didn’t notice, but his hands were glowing and I could smell something burnt. He was going to use his quirk, whether to attack me or not I don’t know, but he was angry, and you know what angry people do,” she replied with an annoyed tone that bordered on being actually angry.

Aizawa paused at that. The boy’s hands had been glowing? Had he really been about to attack Izumi?

He stared down at Izumi for a moment, before letting out a sigh. “Fine, if he really did that then I can’t reprimand you for protecting yourself,” he decided as he brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose.

Izumi huffed. “I took your advice seriously. If I’m about to be attacked or they’re trying to, then I’ll threaten them, but otherwise I won’t,” she said as she looked to the side with a less annoyed look.

Aizawa side eyed her for a moment, then hummed. “Good. Anyway, do you need a moment to calm down or are you ready to go in?” He asked as his expression reverted to his usual bored and tired one.

Izumi kept looking to the side for a moment, then let out a sigh. “No, I’m ready, let’s just get this over with…” She grumbled lowly as she turned to the door.

Aizawa looked at her for a moment, then nodded. “Alright.” He then turned to Edgeshot. “Stay out here, I don’t want to overwhelm her with too many people. If something happens then I’ll call for you,” he instructed the masked hero.

Edgeshot nodded. “Understood. I’ll be in the shadows until you finished,” he answered before using his quirk to fold himself and hide against the ceiling above the door.

Aizawa ‘s eyes followed the hero as he did this, then turned back to the door and Izumi. “Well, let’s go.”

He raised a hand and brought it towards the door.

Then, he knocked on it.


	8. Stressed Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> August 29th. Chapter 1/1.
> 
> The Midoriyas are reunited, but it doesn't go as wanted.

“Speech” _ ‘thoughts’ _

Enjoy

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Inko was sitting in her bed, as she always did, and staring with empty eyes at the wall, as she always did.

She had no sense of time, didn't know how long she was sitting, or how long it took between people coming in.

All she knew was she missed her daughter, wished she was still alive, but knew she wasn’t.

Izumi had been her everything, the only thing that had mattered anymore in her life. Without her, she didn’t care about anything, herself or others.

She was shook out of her idle daze as she heard a knock on the door, and slowly looked up in the direction of it. “Come in…” she answered out of instinct, not consciously thinking of doing it.

The door creaked open a moment later, and she could hear as someone stepped into the short hallway leading from the door to the room.

Inko could hear someone say something, but couldn’t make out the words being said, not that she put in the effort to do so. A moment later a man walked around the corner.

His tired eyes locked onto Inko’s lifeless own. “Hello Ma’am, I’m sorry to intrude,” the man apologised politely as he walked to sit in a chair across the room from Inko. “My name is Aizawa Shouta and I’m a pro hero,” he introduced with a professional tone, despite his tired expression.

Inko kept staring at him without visibly reacting. “Hello…” She replied with a toneless voice.

Aizawa couldn’t help but frown slightly at the tone. He had been told that the mother had taken her daughter’s death hard, but he hadn’t quite realised that it was this bad.

He quickly pulled himself together and continued. “Ma’am, I’ve come to deliver you some news surrounding your daughter,” he explained as he got right to the point. He could tell she wasn’t in the mental state for idle conversation.

Inko seemed to react to the mention of Izumi. “Izumi?..” She asked with a bit more life in her voice.

Aizawa nodded. “I don’t know what you’ve heard, but around seven months or so ago, several heroes and myself raided a villain's lair. While there, we encountered a girl named White by the villain, who he stated was a girl he had kidnapped and turned into a weapon with the purpose of having her kill All Might. She escaped during this raid, but we managed to find her again about three months ago. After we did, we figured out her identity from a blood test,” he explained to the green haired woman, who seemed to be paying some minor attention to his explanation.

When she didn’t seem to be making a connection in his explanation and so he continued. “We found out the girl had had her death faked by the villain. This girl was your daughter,” he revealed as he cut to the case. He saw no point in beating around the bush, she clearly couldn’t figure it out herself.

Inko stared at him with a blank look for a long while, and Aizawa let her. Forcing her to comprehend it was the worst thing he could do with her being in the state she was.

Then, after five silent minutes, her eyes slowly began to widen. “Izumi?” she questioned with a slightly shocked tone.

Aizawa nodded. “Yes, your daughter is alive. The villain faked your daughter’s death,” he answered affirmatively, all the while keeping a close eye on the woman’s reaction.

Inko kept staring at Aizawa for another minute. “I… She… She’s alive? But, I watched her, I watched her die, the blood-” 

Aizawa softly shook his head. “That wasn’t the real Izumi. The villain must have used a quirk that could create clones or something like it, but it was definitely not your daughter who you saw that day,” he explained as his tone turned soft.

The woman stared, and she kept staring for another two minutes. “No, t-that can’t be. S-She’s dead, I saw it happen,” she denied, her mind rejecting the idea that her daughter’s death had been faken.

Aizawa frowned sadly, but he had been prepared for this kind of response. “I assure you ma’am, Izumi is alive, and she’s here to see you, but before that you need to know something. Izumi doesn’t remember anything from before she was taken, and she’s no longer quirkless.” He gestured to the hallway going to the door as he finished explaining.

Inko registered his words, but before her mind had a chance to deny them she turned to the hallway.

Footsteps came after a moment, and a second later a familiar face walked around the corner, and Inko’s eyes widened. Time stopped for a moment, and she realised who she was seeing standing in front of her.

Standing in front of her was a face she hadn’t seen outside of pictures in over half a decade. “Izumi?” she asked with a tone full of disbelief.

Izumi held a blank expression as she looked back at Inko, at the woman who was supposed to be her mother.  _ ‘She seems… so broken…’ _ She noted with a minor bit of sadness.

She nodded to Inko’s words. “Yeah, I’m Izumi…” she answered with a slightly unsure tone. She had thought about what to say to the woman, but she hadn’t been able to come up with anything that truly seemed fitting for the occasion.

The best thing she could do was try and be nice, even if it didn’t sit well with her personally.

Inko kept staring, then after a few seconds slowly raised a hand and held it out towards Izumi. “My baby girl, you’re alive?” she asked with pure disbelief. Inside she was still having a hard time believing that she was looking at her daughter, and it looked like it may stay that way for some time.

Izumi raised her own hand and softly took hold of Inko’s. “I’m alive, but… As Aizawa said, I don’t remember you. I’m sorry,” she apologised softly, her expression remaining blank. She didn’t want to fake a sad expression, even if she was able to, which she wasn’t.

Inko stared at Izumi for a long minute.

“No…”

Izumi and Aizawa both blinked as Inko pulled her hand back and spoke. “You’re not my daughter, you can’t be Izumi. She died, she died in front of me, you can’t be my daughter!” she shouted, while her breathing began to audibly increase.

Izumi was slightly surprised by the sudden outburst, while Aizawa stood up from his chair. “Ma’am, calm down, there’s no need to become upset, I-” 

Inko shook her head as she lashed an arm out at Izumi, making the girl take a step back but not lash out. “NO! THAT IS NOT MY DAUGHTER! GET OUT! GET-”

Inko cut herself off as she suddenly gripped at her chest and made a few pained but unintelligible sounds.

Aizawa reacted immediately. “Shit, I was afraid of this, she’s having a heart attack.” As he got to the woman he turned to Izumi. “Go tell Edgeshot to call an ambulance, NOW!” he ordered loudly as his hero training took over, not even thinking about who he was shouting at.

Izumi was still surprised at the turn of events that had just happened and didn’t have the capacity to argue or get angry. Instead she did as asked with a nod.

She rushed to the door and threw it open. “Edgeshot, call an ambulance. Inko is having a heart attack,” she instructed as she looked up at the ceiling. 

The hero fell to the floor in a second. “What? You’ve barely been in there for ten minutes,” he replied as he hurried past Izumi and went into the room.

Izumi huffed. “I don’t know, I didn’t do anything,” she replied with an annoyed tone as she began to return to her usual self, but was still a bit surprised on the inside.

She turned to follow the hero into the room and watched him run up to the other side of the bed from Aizawa, who had pulled out a defibrillator and was setting it up on the woman. “Damn, I don’t have a phone. Izumi, hurry to the lobby, tell the receptionist to call for the ambulance,” Edgeshot instructed the girl as he turned to look at her over his shoulder.

While Izumi disliked being ordered, she was very aware that now wasn’t the time to be snarky, so she nodded, then rushed out of the room as fast as she could with her quirks suppressed.

She made it to the lobby in just mere seconds and came to a stop in front of the desk. “Call an ambulance, Inko Midoriya is having a heart attack in room twenty-six!” she ordered loudly as she hopped up onto the desk, to make sure the receptionist got her message.

The receptionist jumped in surprise as Izumi did this, but then she registered the girl’s instructions and her eyes widened. “A heart attack? Wha- Alright, I’ll call now,” she agreed quickly as she kept herself from asking questions.

“Inko is having a what?!” The ash blonde woman from earlier asked loudly as she shot up from her seat.

Izumi just turned to the woman with narrowed eyes. “You stay here, a pair of heroes are already doing what they can for her but you’ll be in the way,” she said before turning and then rushing down the hallway again in the direction of Inko’s room.

She arrived quickly and entered the room again to find the two heroes had brought Inko down onto the floor and Edgeshot was repeatedly pressing down on Inko’s chest while Aizawa was… blowing into her mouth?

Izumi frowned with confusion as she saw this. “What are you two doing?” she asked with confusion.

Aizawa looked up as he heard her speak. “No time. Izumi, make sure nobody other than medical professionals enter this room. You’re allowed to draw your sword to keep them away but not attack, do you understand?” he instructed her. He was aware at this point that ordering her was a risky idea, but he had a feeling her getting permission to use her sword to threaten others would work out in his favour.

She stared for a second before she proved him right by growing a grin. “Sure thing Aizawa,” she answered as she turned and walked back out of the room.

She stopped right in front of the door and placed her right hand on her sword, but didn’t take it out immediately.

It didn’t take long before the first person arrived, and of course, just as she had assumed, it was the ash blond boy.

He rushed down the corridor and moved to run inside Inko’s room, but was stopped when a hand grabbed the back of his shirt, then pulled him back and off his feet.

He landed on his bottom, and before he could properly recover he found Izumi’s blade in his face again.

“I told you not to come, you’ll only get in the way.” The boy looked up the blade again to find Izumi looking down at him with narrowed eyes.

In response the boy scowled. “Get the fuck out of my way Deku, I need to help Auntie!” he retorted angrily while pushing himself to his feet.

Izumi shook her head. “No can do. I got orders from a pro hero to keep everyone without medical training out, and unless you’re some kind of super genius, that is unlikely to include you,” she replied with a slightly gleeful tone. Getting permission to act however she liked to normally was great and she was going to be taking full advantage of it.

The boy however didn’t as small pops and crackles began to go off in his palms. “You bitch…” he grumbled with mounting anger.

“KATSUKI, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING YOU BRAT?!” 

A loud smack sound reverberated through the hall as the boy’s mother smacked him over the head as she came to a stop beside him. “YOU KNOW YOU CAN’T USE YOUR QUIRK IN PUBLIC!” She shouted at him with a clearly angry voice and expression.

The boy raised his head quickly to look up at her with a similar expression. “SHUT UP OLD HAG, I NEED TO MAKE SURE AUNTIE IS-”

A sudden gust of wind from the side cut off the boy’s angry rant and made both him and his mother lose their balance for an instant before regaining them again.

They turned to the source of the burst of wind and found Izumi with her sword held out to the side, which she then raised to rest on her shoulder. “Keep it down, there are other people here too,” she grumbled while wearing an annoyed expression and tapping her sword on her shoulder.

The boy seemed like he was about to angrily complain, but his mother beat him to it. “Can’t we go in? We need to make sure she’s ok,” she asked with a pleading tone, her anger suddenly gone with the wind.

Izumi didn’t hesitate to shake her head. “No. I was told to keep anyone who isn’t a medical professional out of the room, so step back,” she answered as she brought her sword in front of her again and held it out towards the mother and son.

The mother seemed conflicted, while the boy obviously looked like he wanted to complain, but after a moment the woman let out a sigh. “Alright, we’ll… stay back,” she answered reluctantly, while walking down over to the wall a short ways away and pulled her son with her, even as he cursed loudly and tried to get out of her grip.

Izumi watched the two of them as they walked away and settled down just a bit further down the wall where they sat down, and as they did she twirled her sword before sheathing it, then crossed her arms as she stayed in place in front of the doorway.

As she did, she began to think over the situation that had just happened. 

Aizawa had briefly warned her during the car ride to be careful around Inko, as she was apparently in a quite frail state after not taking proper care of herself for some time. She thought she had been doing it alright but…

She shook her head.  _ ‘No, it wasn’t me. She didn’t accept me for who I am, and it must have stressed her out and caused the heart attack… Wait, how do I know that?’ _ She was now dreadfully confused. Why did she know that stress could lead to a heart attack? 

After a near minute of thought, she sneered lowly. “Probably more programming from that bastard All for One…” she mumbled lowly to herself while scowling down at the floor.

She went quiet for the next while as she waited for the ambulance people to arrive.

* * *

It took a short while, but eventually a pair of people wearing uniforms and dragging a gurney came running down the hallway.

Izumi watched them as they came running. “Are you the ambulance people here for a heart attack?” She asked them with a largely blank tone as she stared at them.

The man at the front nodded. “We are, is it in here?” He asked as he came to a stop in front of Izumi.

Izumi nodded as she stepped to the side. “Both men are heroes and they’ve been working on her since it began,” she answered as she watched them hurry by her.

Once they were in, she walked behind them, but stopped in the doorway to watch them work.

She tuned out as Aizawa began to explain his recounts of the moments before Inko gripping her chest and what he did following that, then further watched as he, Edgeshot and the two ambulance people raised Inko up and put her on the gurney, then secured her by strapping her down onto it.

After a moment the ambulance people turned to Aizawa. “We’re taking her to Musutafu General. If you need her, then go there,” he explained quickly before turning with his partner to leave the room.

Izumi quickly stepped out of the way and let them through while following them with her eyes.

As they hurried down the hallway, she could hear the two ash blondes call out to Inko and follow after her as she was hurried towards the ambulance.

As they left, silence fell on the room for several long seconds.

Eventually though, Izumi let out a sigh. “Well, what now?” She asked with a raised eyebrow as she turned to Aizawa and Edgeshot.

Aizawa kept staring at the door for a moment before raising his hand and dragging it through his hair with a heavy sigh. “That was probably the worst case scenario that could have happened,” he admitted with a blank tone as he turned to the girl.

Izumi stared at him for a moment before humming. “I guessed so. Do we go see her later or..?” she asked further with a slightly unsure tone.

Aizawa looked at her for a moment, then he shook his head. “No, not today. She’s going to need a bit of time to recover. I’ll go see her alone tomorrow, so for now let’s just… Let’s go somewhere else…” he answered with a tired tone.

Izumi looked at the underground hero for a moment, then turned to look out the window.

_ ‘Maybe… Maybe the outside world isn’t that nice of a place after all…’ _ she thought as she placed her hand on her sword. 

She would like to think she enjoyed fighting, maybe even killing, but seeing Inko in pain…

Maybe she didn’t just like anyone dying…

“I want to go back to my room. I’ve had enough of the outside world for today.” She turned to Aizawa with an upset frown. Whether it was sad or angry, not even she knew at the moment.

Aizawa raised an eyebrow at her. “Are you sure? You’ve barely been out for an hour and a half,” he asked with a slightly surprised tone as he looked at her.

Izumi nodded. “I’m sure. I… I think I like fighting, maybe even killing, but… I didn’t like that. I want to go sit on my bed and think where it’s quiet,” she answered a blank tone, which was a bit disconcerting to Aizawa, who was used to her either being gruff, annoyed or cheeky.

But, he supposed that it meant that what had happened may have affected her at least some after all. Maybe she had been expecting the outside world to be different, to be exciting or something else.

But if she wanted to go back, then that’s what he would let her do. “Alright, we’ll go back then. Come on, we can at least pick up some food to eat on the way back.” He waved for Izumi to follow him as he moved towards the room’s entrance, while Edgeshot walked alongside him.

Izumi followed wordessly. 

They left the building quickly, then went towards the car. As they went, Aizawa called All Might and told him of the events that had happened and that they were going back to the holding facility. The hero questioned this of course, but the only answer he received was that he would be told at the facility.

As they drove out of the parking lot, Izumi looked at the facility for one last time, before turning away and looking down at her sword in her lap.

_ ‘This world is a shit place,’ _ she decided as she frowned.

* * *

The next day, Aizawa went to Mustafu General Hospital, just as he had said he would.

He arrived at the hospital at roughly midday, he didn’t know when exactly as he never checked the time, and entered inside the hospital.

He walked up to the front desk, and as he did the receptionist looked up and smiled to him. “Hello sir, can I help you with anything?” he asked politely to Aizawa.

Aizawa nodded. “Yes. I would like to go see Inko Midoriya, she came in yesterday after a heart attack. I was one of the heroes that assisted her on site,” he explained to the nurse receptionist.

The receptionist hummed. “One moment sir,” he replied as he turned to the computer and began to type away for a few moments.

Aizawa didn’t verbally respond and waited patiently for the receptionist to look through the system.

After a few seconds he made an ‘ah’ sound. “Here we are, Inko Midoriya, arrived yesterday from Musutafu Psychiatric Hospital after a call was received and after arriving here was diagnosed as having received a stress induced heart attack. She was stabilised and is well enough to receive visitors.” He gestured to the elevator. “She’s in room two-hundred-twenty-two on the third floor, you can go see her sir,” he explained with a smile.

Aizawa nodded. “Thank you,” he said politely, then turned and made his way over to the elevators, stepped inside once the doors opened and pressed on the button for the third floor.

It took just a few seconds until the doors opened on the third floor and Aizawa stepped out.

He looked for a sign pointing to the room he was looking for, which he did quickly before making his way towards the room.

After walking down the hall for a minute he quickly arrived at the room, but stood in front of it for a moment as he mentally prepared himself for whatever he was going to see or hear when entering inside.

He finally pulled himself together, then knocked on the door.

“Come in,” came the answer quickly, and Aizawa opened the door.

As he closed it behind him, he turned to find not one but two pairs of eyes looking back at him.

Mitsuki Bakugou looked at him with surprised eyes. “You? What are you doing here?” she asked with a mixture of surprise and minor accusation.

Aizawa put up a hand. “I’m here to… elaborate on yesterday, and bring an apology,” he answered as he turned his eyes to Inko, who was sitting in her bed and looking at him with an unsure expression, which made him raise an eyebrow.

Inko’s unsure expression turned into a small frown as she heard his words. “Elaborate?” she asked with an unsure tone.

Aizawa nodded, then moved to sit in a chair, away from both women. Once in the chair he turned to Inko. “First, as I said, I want to apologise for what happened yesterday, we didn’t mean for you to go through what you did. If there’s anything I or my coworkers can do to-”

Inko shook her head as Aizawa’s head began to lower into a seated bow. “No no, please don’t bow, I… I’m partly to blame as well,” she assured with a somewhat uncomfortable tone and lopsided smile.

Aizawa raised his head and looked at her with a faintly surprised expression while Mitsuki turned with one of shock. “What? Inko, you had a  _ heart attack _ because of them, you-”

Inko shook her head again, silencing her friend. “No Mitsuki, it’s my own fault. Had I… had I listened to them, then it might not have happened,” she replied as she turned with a small smile.

Mitsuki looked like she wanted to argue further, but managed to hold it in, not wanting to cause Inko more stress.

The green haired woman turned back to Aizawa. “Can you tell me about her?” 

Aizawa blinked. “Her? Do you mean Izumi?” He asked with minor confusion.

Inko nodded. “Yes. You… you said it was her, but… she didn’t feel the same. I think I remember something about her being… kidnapped. Did… did that actually happen?” she asked with an increasingly unsure tone.

Aizawa frowned lightly, but nodded after a moment. “Yes, I did say that, and it sadly seems to have happened. What I’m about to tell you both is highly confidential information and I’m only telling you both because of your relation to Izumi. I need your word that you shall not speak of this.” Aizawa said as he gave both women a serious expression.

Mitsuki opened her mouth, but shut it after a moment and simply nodded. Inko did likewise, giving him a nod.

Aizawa nodded in return, then began to explain. “Almost seven years ago, during the Musutafu Explosion, Izumi Midoriya appears to have been replaced by a fake Izumi, who… you know what happened. Anyway, she was taken to a facility, where over the following six years she was changed.-”

“Changed? Changed how?” Mitsuki questioned with a worried tone.

Aizawa turned to her with his usual blank tired look. “Changed to be a weapon.”

Both women gasped at his words, but didn’t say anything more as Aizawa continued. “The villain she was taken by was no ordinary villain. His quirk gives him the ability to take quirks from others, then either use them for himself or give them to others. He used this quirk to force a multitude of quirks onto Izumi with one purpose in mind. Turning her into a weapon that can kill All Might.”

Both women were now shocked into silence. Izumi had been turned into a weapon, one that was supposed to be able to kill All Might?

Aizawa stopped for a minute to let the two women absorb the information he had given them, then he continued. “I don’t know what you’ve heard miss Midoriya, but about seven months ago I and several other heroes raided a villain’s lair, the very same one where your daughter was held. When we found her, the villain tried to order her to kill All Might, but she somehow managed to resist, but she began to lash out at her surroundings instead. During this, Endeavor decided it would be a smart idea to attack her.”

Inko gasped at the idea of the number two hero attacking her daughter, but Aizawa wasn’t done. “All Might stopped him before he could do any real damage, but Izumi didn’t like it, and threw a spear directly into the man’s throat. He died just three minutes later.”

Inko and Mitsuki started with shock. Mitsuki knew about the raid and Endeavor’s death, but to find out that her  _ god daughter _ had killed him? That was beyond anything she could have expected.

As Aizawa was done explaining what he needed to, silence fell on the room as the two women went on to absorb all the information they had been given.

It took almost ten minutes before anyone said something.

“So… It really isn’t my daughter, not anymore…”

Aizawa and Mitsuki looked up at Inko with surprise. “What? Inko, it’s-” Mitsuki began, but was quickly cut off.

Inko shook her head. “No… Izumi died seven years ago. The person I saw yesterday wasn’t my daughter, not anymore… She said it herself, she doesn’t remember me, and I don’t remember her, at least, not this version of her.” She raised her head to look at Aizawa with a small smile. “Thank you for telling me sir, but I can’t take her.”

Aizawa looked at her for a few moments, before his expression became slightly sad, but he nodded. “I understand Ma’am, and I’m sure Izumi will too. For what it’s worth, I can give you my number so you’ll be able to stay in contact with her, if you want,” he offered politely as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a card and held it out to Inko.

Inko eyed the card for a moment, then reached out and took it. “Thank you. I.. don’t know how much I’ll stay in contact, seeing her face all the time might be too painful,” she answered with a sad smile.

Aizawa nodded. “I understand Ma’am, but the offer will stay open. By the way, if it’s alright for me to ask, you seem to be… much more coherent today than you were yesterday.” He had noted it from the start, of course, but he hadn’t thought it was the best time to do it right at the start.

Inko blinked. “Oh, well, I don’t really have an answer to that I suppose. I know I’ve been in a very dazed state for a long time, but I supposed seeing Izumi again broke me out of it?” She answered, though it sounded more like a question or guess than anything else.

Aizawa looked at her for a moment, then let out a hum. “Alright. Do you have any questions, or would you like for me to leave?” he asked as he stayed polite.

Inko and Mitsuki turned to each other and stared at each other, then Mitsuki shrugged, and a moment later Inko nodded before turning back to Aizawa with a polite smile. “No, I don’t think we do sir. Thank you for telling me everything, at least now I know the truth, even if it is… terrible.”

Aizawa nodded. “Of course Ma’am. I’ll be on my way then, I hope your coming days are more pleasant than yesterday was,” he said as he turned and began to make his way to the door, leaving the two women behind with information they could never have dreamed of being true.

Aizawa had more work to do, as now he had to figure out what would happen with Izumi. Where would she go after she’s allowed to leave the holding facility permanently?

He hummed to himself as he exited the hospital room.  _ ‘I wonder, would she mind…’ _

He would think about it for a few days, then ask his girlfriend what she thought before making a decision.

* * *

In a dark room elsewhere, a white haired man was sitting in a chair and resting his cheek against his fist, while looking at a screen ahead of him. 

The man hummed as he finished reading over the information on screen. “I suppose none of the simulations bore fruit…” he spoke to himself with a familiar slightly deep voice.

He turned to a table beside his chair and reached over with his free hand to take hold of a piece of paper. “I suppose I have no other choice. If I can’t retrieve her, then I’ll just have to make sure the  _ heroes _ won’t be able to make use of her either.” He grew a grin as he brought the paper in front of him and read out the word at the top, which was in bold lettering.

**Quirk Erasing Bullets: Shie Hassaikai**


	9. Hi-Jinx of a Familiar Kind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> September 5th. Chapter 1/1.
> 
> Izumi is released from her cell, and gets something she hadn't fully known she needed.

“Speech”  _ ‘thoughts’ _

Enjoy

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Roughly another month went by after Izumi’s meeting with Inko, and she had spent the entire time in her room.

But, unlike before, she minded this setup less. It had given her time to think about a lot of things.

One of those things was, what would she do now? If she was going to be let out, which she expected to happen eventually, what would she do? She had read enough books by now to know that you needed to have a job to sustain yourself in the outside world.

She was, for all intents and purposes, a monster now. She had multiple quirks, which no human was supposed to. That automatically made her different, and not in the good way that was normally seemingly accepted in society.

Izumi also wondered on occasion why she suddenly cared about what others thought of her. Should she care? 

That was a question she still hadn’t found an answer to, in fact she hadn’t found an answer to either question yet.

Izumi decided she just needed time, and she was rather sure she would have plenty of it.

Izumi was pulled out of her silent thinking as the sound of the door opening reached her ears, and she turned to see Aizawa walking through the door.

Over the last month she had seen less and less of All Might, and more and more of Aizawa. It confused her slightly, but she supposed there was a reason for it. She didn’t really care enough to ask about it.

“Hey,” she greeted blankly as she turned back to look at her lap.

“Hey,” Aizawa greeted in return with a similarly blank tone as he kept walking towards her.

He sat down on the edge of her bed, as he had found himself to be allowed to do after the visit to Inko, but stayed quiet. 

As they sat, Aizawa took a moment to look at Izumi.

She was calm, which before the incident with Inko would have meant she was up to something, but now it was rather common. 

It unnerved the guards, who were used to watching her either walk around impatiently while bored or holding an annoyed expression as she read.

Him on the other hand, he had a feeling there was something bugging her, but also supposed she needed time for herself to think it over, so he never pressed it.

But today he had something to talk with her about. He reached his hand out and placed it on Izumi’s head, bringing the girl’s attention up to him. “Izumi, I’ve got something to tell you today,” he explained with a small smile on his face, not a grin.

Izumi blinked. It was rare for Aizawa to smile, he only did it when he was genuinely very happy about something. “What?” she asked with a small bit of curiosity growing in her voice.

Aizawa ruffled her hair. “They’re letting you out kid. Next week.” 

Izumi stared up at him for a few seconds. “What?” she asked with a blank tone.

Aizawa let out an amused huff. “You heard what I said. They’ve decided that you’ve been behaving good enough to let you leave, but you’ll have to stay with a hero who can keep a handle on you and report your progress to the Commission,” he explained to the girl as she kept staring blankly at her for a few moments.

After a few seconds Izumi’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Which hero am I going to be ‘staying’ with? All Might? We both know he can’t beat me, unless they aren’t planning on letting me have the cuff taken off.” She pointed down at the cuff as she spoke, to get the point across.

Aizawa rolled his eyes. “Yeah, you’re right, which is why you’ll be staying with me. My quirk can erase yours, which is the only reason they’re going to let you have the cuff taken off, but they’re replacing it with a tracking chip. We can’t actually force you to take the chip, but it’s the chip or the bracelet.” He gestured to the back of his neck as he spoke, implying this was where the chip was going to go.

Izumi blinked up at him. “A tracking chip? So… If I let them do it, I can have this thing taken off?” she asked with a slightly surprised tone.

Aizawa nodded. “Yeah, and you shouldn’t be able to feel the chip once it’s been injected. I don’t like that they’re forcing you to choose between being basically powerless or being followed wherever you go, but I can’t do anything about it, and All Might tried to, but the Commission isn’t budging. Yo-”

“Just give me the damn chip. I want to be able to move freely again, and I can just beat any creeps following me,” Izumi suddenly, and somewhat aggressively, interjected, but her expression was set in an excited grin.

Aizawa raised an eyebrow at her again, but then he let out an amused huff. “Right, I’ll tell them then. They’ll probably be around to give it to you sometime during this week I imagine, then on Monday next week we're packing up what you have and bringing it to the place I’m living at. Just so you know, I’m sharing an apartment with a friend for the time being, but he’s trustworthy, if loud,” he explained as he gained an exasperated tone at the end, as if he felt tired just thinking about it, which might have been it.

Izumi stared at him for a moment, then let out a hum as she turned to look out into the room. “If I don’t like him then I won’t play nice, but I won’t threaten or hurt him,” she answered with a slightly gruff tone.

Aizawa let out an amused huff again. “It might do him some good.” 

Izumi couldn’t help but giggle at his response. “Whatever you say old man,” she replied cheekily with a grin.

Aizawa turned to her with narrowed eyes, but didn’t say anything for a few moments.

He then raised a hand and ruffled her hair. “You’re a brat,” he said with an affectionate tone.

Izumi leaned into his hand. “Yeah, but now I’m your brat,” she responded with a softer, almost happy tone.

Aizawa looked at her for a moment, then moved his hand and placed it on her shoulder, then pulled her close.

Izumi was surprised for a moment by this gesture, but for some reason unknown to her, she didn’t dislike it, in fact she felt… safe.

She nuzzled into his side for a moment, then closed her eyes. “I’m glad you’re the one who found me…” she muttered absentmindedly.

Aizawa grew a small smile. “You’re welcome, Izumi.”

The two continued to sit like this for a while longer. How long, neither knew, nor cared about. 

* * *

A few days later, the time came.

In between this and Aizawa telling Izumi the news that she was being released, a single surgeon had been allowed into her room, along with Aizawa, to inject the tracking chip into Izumi’s neck.

Obviously the girl was suspicious about the surgeon, but she was more willing to play nice since Aizawa was present and overseeing the procedure.

It took just a minute overall. The surgeon placed a small device against Izumi’s neck, then after a moment it made a small incision in her neck, which she flinched at, but she had been warned about it and didn’t lash out as a result.

The device then inserted the chip into her neck through the incision, then the surgeon used a healing quirk to close the wound.

Once that was done, he quickly asked Izumi to roll her neck a few times, to see if there was any discomfort or pain that would suggest the chip hadn’t gone in right.

She did so, and answered that she felt nothing out of place, to which the surgeon nodded, then said his goodbyes.

But now wasn’t about that, it was about Izumi finally getting to leave her room, permanently.

Izumi hummed as she looked at the boxes that had been brought into her room, then turned to Aizawa and All Might, the latter of whom had decided to come and help out, seeing as it was a big day for Izumi. “So, everything goes in these?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Aizawa nodded. “Yes, but we’ll sort it up so your books go in one and your clothes in another, that way we won’t have to stress about figuring it all out when we get to the apartment,” he explained with his usual tired tone.

Izumi looked at him for a moment, then looked around the room, specifically her dresser and bookshelf. 

She then turned back to Aizawa. “Well, let’s do it then so we can go.” She grew a grin as she said this and moved towards the bookshelf.

Aizawa rolled his eyes, but grew a fond smile nonetheless as he moved to follow her.

All Might watched the interaction between the two with a smile.  _ ‘They’ll be just fine,’ _ he thought to himself as he let out a chuckle under his breath, then moved to help them pack everything.

It took no more than fifteen minutes before the books and Izumi’s clothes were packed in the two boxes the heroes had brought along.

Izumi looked at Aizawa. “So, what now? Do we just… leave?” she asked with a slightly unsure tone. They hadn’t exactly extensively gone over what would happen in between packing and arriving at Aizawa’s home.

Aizawa brought a hand up and scratched his cheek. “I think the official procedure is for the guards to take you to the front, then remove your cuff and tell you you’re free to go,” he answered, but it sounded as if he was a bit unsure himself.

Izumi looked at him for a moment, then turned to All Might with a questioning look.

All Might shrugged half heartedly. “I’m not usually involved in these sorts of things, so I don’t know either. The guards will likely know better.”

Izumi blinked, then turned to the window and stared for a few moments, before turning back to Aizawa. “Well, no point in standing around and doing nothing then,” she decided with a grin.

Aizawa gave her a deadpan expression, while All Might chuckled. “Right you are young Izumi. Come, let us be on our way.” The blond hero reached down and picked up one of the boxes as he spoke with an amused tone. Aizawa didn’t say anything as he picked up the other box, the one with clothes to be specific, which was lighter than the box with the books.

Aizawa turned to Izumi, then nodded towards the door. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

Izumi smiled, genuinely smiled, up to him. “Sure thing old man,” she answered cheekily, but with a hint of joy mixed in.

Aizawa shook his head, despite the small fond smile on his lips, then turned and began to walk towards the door, with Izumi following beside him and All Might behind the two.

The door opened as they approached it, and when they got into the observation room both guards were standing side by side and looking at them. “We’re going to escort you three to the lobby, where we’ll remove the cuff and let you be on your way,” the second guard, the one who was always sitting down at the console explained to the three as they came into the room.

Aizawa nodded. “Right. Lead the way then.”

The two guards nodded, then the first went to the door leading into the hallway and opened it, then stepped outside while the second guard waited for the two heroes and Izumi to step out.

They arrived in the lobby just a minute later, and once there the first guard stopped and turned to the small group. “Well, this has been a… different situation from normal, but it’s over now and I hope you have no ill will towards us or the facility.” He had a lopsided smile as he spoke, but seemed to try and stay professional.

Izumi looked at him for a moment. While she hadn’t ever actually interacted with the man, he had never done anything towards her and was just doing his job.

She shrugged after a moment. “You’re doing your job, whatever,” she answered dismissively as she looked to the side with a blank expression.

The guard sweatdropped at her answer, but mostly out of nervousness. “Right… Good. Anyway, let me get the cuff off you, then you can be on your way.” He slowly walked up to Izumi, then crouched down in front of her.

He did pause when Izumi looked at him with narrowed eyes, but when she didn’t say anything he continued and reached for the cuff.

He quickly went through the process of unlocking it, and after about ten seconds the cuff made a beep sound, then detached from the girl’s leg.

The instant it did, Izumi felt a rush of power going through her, making her let out a hum, before grinning, which unnerved the guard who was still crouched in front of her.

As the guard hurriedly stood up again, Izumi shook her now free leg. “That’s much better,” she stated with an approving tone while stretching her limbs for a moment.

The guard looked at her with a nervous expression for a moment, but quickly suppressed it to remain professional. “R-Right, well, you’re free to go now. I hope you’ll… have a good future…” he said, though he obviously had trouble figuring out what to say.

Izumi looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, then rolled her eyes. “You’re trying too hard. Just say bye,” she replied with a deadpan expression.

The guard looked at her for a moment, then he rubbed the back of his neck. “Right… Sorry. Um, bye, then…”

Izumi grew a grin. “Bye then, thanks for not getting me in any more trouble for using my sword,” she thanked semi sarcastically, but there was a bit of genuineness in it, but not a lot.

The guard shrugged lightly, giving up on being professional entirely. “You weren’t trying to escape, so there was no reason to,” he replied, before then pointing behind him. “I have duties I need to see to, so… bye.” He raised a hand for an awkward wave as he spoke.

Izumi let out a giggle, then raised her hand. “Bye.”

A second later she disappeared, making everyone pause for an instant.

“What are you waiting for, come on Aizawa!”

Before any of them had a chance to begin going on alert, Izumi’s voice shouted up and they all turned to see she was standing by the door while wearing a cheeky grin.

Aizawa immediately narrowed his eyes. “Izumi…” There was a sense of warning to his tone as he spoke to the girl.

Izumi just smiled innocently. “Yes Aizawa?” 

Aizawa kept staring at her with narrowed eyes for a few seconds, then he let out a heavy sigh. “I’m going to regret taking you in, aren’t I?” he asked aloud, mainly to himself.

Izumi stuck out her tongue. “Maybe, maybe not,” she answered without remorse.

Aizawa shook his head. “Let’s just go, we’ve caused enough of a scene already,” he grumbled annoyedly as he moved after Izumi.

Izumi giggled at his reaction, but said nothing more as she waited for Aizawa and All Might to catch up, before then stepping outside the building.

Izumi took a moment to breathe in the fresh air, just as she had the first time she left the facility. 

She turned to Aizawa and All Might again. “It’s nice to be outside again,” she stated with a more genuine smile.

Aizawa huffed. “Yeah, I can imagine. Come on, let’s get to the car and get going,” he instructed as he nodded in one direction of the parking lot.

Izumi just rolled her eyes, but followed him without a fuss as they walked to the car.

They got to the car quickly, which was a blue sedan, and placed the boxes in the back seats, which was the only place they could fit in.

Luckily, All Might hadn’t intended to follow them to the apartment itself, as he didn’t want to bring a crowd to the apartment complex, so he said his goodbyes and promised Izumi to stay in contact, before jumping away to his own home.

Izumi watched All Might disappear into the distance, before then turning to Aizawa. “So, time to go?” She asked with a raised eyebrow and small smile as she looked at the man.

Aizawa nodded. “Yeah. Come on, let’s go.” He gestured for Izumi to get into the front passenger seat while he moved to the driver’s seat.

Izumi hummed, then did as suggested and moved into the car and fastened herself in.

A minute later, the car drove out of the parking lot and left the holding facility behind for the last time.

* * *

Some forty or so minutes later, the car pulled into the parking lot surrounded by several apartment complexes.

Izumi hummed as she looked at the large buildings. “So, there is where you live?” She asked with minor curiosity as she turned to Aizawa.

Aizawa nodded as he moved the car into a parking space. “Yeah, it was a fair price and near to my work place. It was logical to choose it,” he answered with a bored tone as he turned off the car.

Izumi rolled her eyes. He always talked about things being logical and people acting in the smartest way, which was funny to her since she didn’t think he always did it himself.

For instance, taking her in was in no way a smart idea, even she knew it. She was rash, impulsive, prone to easily get angry and prefered to threaten those she didn’t know.

She was very aware she was a difficult ‘project’.

But, that also meant she was grateful to Aizawa for taking her anyway. She would try and keep herself under control to repay him, but she still intended to be a cheeky little brat with him.

As they stepped out of the car they went to the back seats, Aizawa made a realisation.

The underground hero let out a sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I can’t carry the box of books. I’m not built for heavy lifting,” he said openly, though largely to himself and not specifically anyone else.

Izumi looked at him with a raised eyebrow, then turned to look at the box on the other side of the car.

She wordlessly walked around the car, opened the door, then took hold of the box.

Aizawa saw this. “Hey, do-”

He stopped mid sentence as Izumi, without even seeming to react to the weight, pulled out the box without an issue. “Wha-” Aizawa was speechless.

Izumi on the other hand closed the door with a foot, then walked around the car and looked at him with a grin. “I have super strength, remember?” She replied with a cheeky tone.

Aizawa stared at her for a moment, then let out a sigh. “Right, of course you do…”

He shook his head for a second, then leaned in and picked up the other box from the back seat, then closed the door behind him as he stepped away.

Once away from the car, he turned to Izumi. “Follow me, I’ll show you to the apartment.” 

Izumi nodded in understanding, then wordlessly followed him as he turned and began to make his way towards one of the complexes.

The walk was spent in silence as they walked up several flights of stairs, before stopping on the fourth floor and walking down the row of doors.

Eventually Aizawa stopped in front of a door and crouched down to put his box on the ground. “We’re here,” he said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a couple keys.

Izumi hummed as she looked at the door. “Is it a big place?” She asked with a curious tone as she looked up at Aizawa.

Aizawa shrugged. “It’s big enough for you, me and my friend,” he answered dismissively.

Izumi let out an amused huff then rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say sir.”

Aizawa narrowed his eyes slightly as he side eyed her, but didn’t say anything as he put his key into the lock and unlocked the door.

He pulled the door open, then held it as he gestured for Izumi to step inside. “You go in first,” he instructed as he turned to his box and moved to pick it up.

Izumi silently did as asked and walked through the door.

A sense of… strange warmth began to fill her as she entered the apartment. She couldn’t explain it, it was just there.

She looked around the short hallway going into the apartment, before hearing the sound of the front door closing behind her and turning to see Aizawa standing behind her. “You can walk in and place the box in the lounge, but after that come back and take off your shoes,” he instructed again as he gestured for the girl to walk further in.

Izumi tilted her head for a second, but shrugged and did as he said.

She entered the lounge of the apartment and looked around as she stepped into the middle and placed the box down with a small thud. “It’s kind of small,” she noted as she looked out of the window.

Aizawa huffed as he put down his box. “It’s big enough,” hu grumbled with minor annoyance.

Izumi giggled. “Sure Aizawa, sure,” she answered cheekily with a grin.

Aizawa rolled his eyes, then gestured for her to follow him as he turned to walk back towards the front door.

Izumi followed him back to the entrance and watched as the man reached down and untied his shoes, which she took as her having to do so as well.

After a minute both of them had their shoes off and went back into the apartment, but this time Aizawa showed her further into the apartment.

He stopped in front of a door and turned to Izumi. “This is your room Izumi,” he explained as he pushed the door open.

Izumi blinked as she looked into the room, then up at Aizawa. “My room? Really?” She asked with genuine surprise. She had been largely expecting to be sleeping in the lounge or something.

Aizawa raised an eyebrow at her. “Yeah, did you think I was going to make you sleep on the sofa?” He asked as he scrutinised her for a moment.

Izumi shrugged. “Basically. I was expecting it after how much of a brat I’ve been,” she answered dismissively.

Aizawa huffed. “You’re a brat, sure, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to force you to live on the sofa,” he answered as he shot her a small grin.

Izumi let out a scoff. “Well, thank you…” She thanked as she looked down and to the side slightly.

Aizawa reached down and ruffled her hair. “You’re welcome Problem Child. Now go in and take a look, it’s pretty plain but you can change that later.” He gently pushed her back a bit as he ushered her into the room.

Izumi didn’t argue against the gentle pushing and stepped into the room and looked around.

As he had said, the room was plain and only had a bed, desk and chair, dresser and bookshelf.

She hummed after a moment. “Well, it’s nice to have a room that I know I can leave when I want,” she said absentmindedly as she looked around.

Aizawa let out an amused huff from the doorway. “Yeah, but you can lock this door from the inside, so nobody else can come in without you wanting them to,” he added blankly.

Izumi nodded. “Good, I like that. So, what now? Do we just… stay here?” She asked with a small usure frown as she turned to Aizawa.

Aizawa nodded. “For today at least. Let’s get your books and clothes put away, then we can have some lunch.” He turned and began to walk towards the lounge again as he spoke.

Izumi followed him, seeing as she was the only one of the two that could carry the box with books, and picked up said box as she entered the lounge, then followed Aizawa as he walked back to her new room with her clothes.

Once in the room, the two went to work putting everything away, Izumi the clothes and Aizawa the books. With their combined effort they were done in just about ten minutes.

Once done, Aizawa took both the boxes into another room, then came out and looked at Izumi. “Let’s go into the lounge and I’ll make us some sandwiches to eat.” Normally he would just eat his jelly pouches, but Izumi needed something better than that. He was happy now that Hizashi always made sure to stock good bread.

Izumi hummed and nodded. “Sure thing, I’m starting to get hungry anyway,” she responded as she turned and began to walk in the direction of the lounge, ahead of Aizawa.

Aizawa didn’t say anything as he followed after her, then once in the lounge he continued towards the kitchen. “Go sit on the sofa and turn on the TV if you want while I make our food,” he suggested offhandedly as he gestured to the TV.

Izumi blinked at him. “TV? What’s a ‘TV’?” She asked with confusion.

Aizawa paused mid step, then took a moment before letting out sigh. “Right, I should have known you might not know what that is.” He turned as he spoke and walked over towards the sofa and the TV.

Izumi looked at him with a confused look but didn’t say anything and instead followed after him.

Once in front of the sofa, Aizawa leaned down and took a hold of the remote, then pressed the power button and turned on the TV.

The sudden sound from the device on the wall made Izumi jump, then immediately draw her sword with a growl as she glared at the TV.

Aizawa had been about to say something as she did this, and was momentarily surprised into silence, but quickly recovered. “Hey hey easy, it’s just the TV, there’s no danger,” he reassured quickly before Izumi went to attack the wall mounted device.

Izumi didn’t turn to him, but after a moment she began to realise that there was no way all those people she could see were inside of that machine or in the room, then began to calm down.

As she sheathed her sword she looked up at Aizawa with narrowed eyes. “Tell me next time  _ before _ doing that, got it?” She instructed gruffly and with clear annoyance.

Aizawa nodded. “Noted. Sorry about that,” he apologised awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Izumi rolled her eyes. “Just remember next time…” she grumbled lowly as she sat down on the sofa and looked at the TV.

As she looked, her eyes gained a glint of interest. 

The device in front of her was obviously displaying people, but she knew for a fact they couldn’t be inside it or behind it. Maybe it was a quirk?

She felt the sofa sag to her side and turned to see Aizawa had sat down beside her. “That’s a TV. It’s a device that lets us watch the news or other shows that are recorded elsewhere. We can actually watch something happening on the other side of the planet as it’s happening,” he explained as he noted her interested look.

Izumi’s eyes widened slightly at his words, and turned back to the TV with a minor look of awe.

Aizawa then reached the remote in front of her. “Here, you can use this to change the channel.” He then pointed to the buttons as he explained what each does. “This button turns up the volume, making it louder or quieter, this one changes the channels, you can go backwards or forwards, and if you want a specific one you can use the buttons with numbers to go straight to it.” 

Izumi paid close attention as he pointed and explained how to use the remote, then once he was done she took hold of it, then tried the buttons as he had said.

Her eyes practically sparkled with awe as the screen changed and began to show a different TV show, then another, and another.

Seeing her distracted with the TV, Aizawa stood up from the sofa and went back towards the kitchen to make their lunch.

* * *

A few hours later and Izumi and Aizawa were sitting in the lounge and silently watching TV, or at least Izumi was, Aizawa had pulled out a yellow sleeping bag and was lying down on the sofa and had gone to sleep.

Then, around half past four, the front door opened.

“HEY, SHOUTA, I’M HOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAHH-”

The voice that loudly spoke had begun to scream halfway through what he was saying, and the reason for this was that they had scared Izumi and she reacted by disappearing from the sofa and reappearing with her sword drawn against the speaker’s neck.

Izumi glared at the blond who was staring down at her sword with wide frightened eyes. “Who the hell are you?” She questioned threateningly as she pressed the tip of her sword against the man’s neck, not enough to draw blood though.

“God damn it. Izumi stop, it’s my friend!”

Izumi turned to see Aizawa hurriedly kicking his sleeping bag off him and rushing up to her and the man.

She let out a scoff as she retracted her sword, but didn’t sheath it as she held it besider her. “This is the other guy who lives here? I don’t like him, he’s too loud,” she responded as she turned back to the blond with narrowed eyes.

Aizawa sighed as he came up beside her. “Hizashi, I told you  _ not _ to come in like you normally do, this is exactly what I knew was going to happen if you did.” He glared at the blond, who was apparently called Hizashi, as he said this, and he definitely looked anything but happy about it.

Hizashi still looked like he was scared and in shock. “S-Shouta, who’s that?! Why is there a girl with a sword in our apartment?!” He asked loudly with a near shrieking voice.

Aizawa used his quirk to glare at the man with red eyes. “Hizashi. I told you that the person I’ve been looking in on would be moving in with us when she gets released, which I also told you would be today.” He stopped using his quirk then as he seemed to calm down some. “Just take off your shoes then come into the lounge. Come on Izumi, let’s go back to the sofa.” He turned as he spoke but gave Izumi a slightly pointed look before doing so.

Izumi looked at him for a moment with narrowed eyes, then let out a scoff before disappearing from the hallway and reappearing on the sofa.

Hizashi was still in shock, and it took him several long moments before he reached down with shaky hands and untied his shoes.

A minute later he slowly came walking into the room to see Aizawa and Izumi sitting on the sofa, and the latter turned to follow him with narrowed eyes, which were full of caution, which unnerved him.

He went over and sat in the recliner off to the side of the sofa, opposite the side where Izumi was sitting with Aizawa in between them.

Aizawa let out a sigh. “Alright, I know I’ve been vague about who I’ve been going to see over the last few months, but I’ve had good reason,” he began as he turned to his friend, who was still looking to be getting over his shock.

Hizashi nodded with an unsure look. “Yeah, ever since you caught White you’ve been going somewhere whenever you don’t have to be at UA.” 

Aizawa nodded back. “Yeah, and this is who I’ve been seeing. Her name is Izumi Midoriya, but the world knows her as White, the girl who killed Endeavor,” he answered as he gestured to Izumi, who was still holding onto her sword in her lap.

Hizashi’s mind stalled at this point.

For almost three minutes, Izumi and Aizawa watched Hizashi’s expression stay blank with his mouth slightly open while staring at Izumi.

Then his eyes slowly began to widen as the information registered in his mind. “You’re White?” He asked with a shocked, but not loud voice.

Izumi rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I’m the murderer of the former number two hero,” she answered sarcastically with an annoyed tone mixed in.

Hizashi just kept staring for another moment in silence.

Then he suddenly stood up. “Give me a moment.” He turned and began to walk down towards the bedrooms as he spoke.

A few seconds later both Izumi and Aizawa could hear a door open, then close.

“MOTHERFUCKING BASTARDS! HOW COULD ANYONE KIDNAP A LITTLE GIRL LIKE THAT AND TRY TO TURN HER INTO A WEAPON?! I’LL FIND THOSE BASTARDS MYSELF AND BUST THEIR EARDRUMS THEN RATTLE ALL THEIR BONES SO HARD THEY  **BREAK** !” 

The muffled shout made Izumi  _ and _ Aizawa jump, as even though the man’s room was soundproofed the shout was still quite loud, which meant he wasn’t holding back his quirk.

A few seconds later, the two heard the door open and close again, then footsteps approached the lounge before Hizashi came around the corner again.

He sat down in the recliner again and looked back at Izumi and Aizawa, who were both looking at him with surprise. “Sorry about that, I needed to get it out. So, you’re White, but your name is Izumi Midoriya?” He asked as he smiled warmly to Izumi.

Izumi looked at him for a moment, then she nodded as her expression began to return into a blank look. “Yeah, I am,” she answered simply.

Hizashi hummed. “And you’re going to be living here with us now?” He asked while keeping his tone soft and welcoming.

Izumi narrowed her eyes slightly. “Apparently. It was this or stay in the holding facility,” she answered dismissively.

Hizashi nodded. “Understandable. Alright, welcome to our home then.” He gave Izumi a bright smile as he said this.

Izumi and Aizawa blinked at the blond. “Wait, just like that?” The underground hero asked with surprise of his own. Even he hadn’t expected Hizashi to just accept it so easily.

Hizashi nodded as he looked at his friend. “Yep. Shouta, I trust you, you wouldn’t let anyone dangerous in to live with us, plus I’ve been listening to whenever you drunkenly rant about the ‘little girl who was taken by a villain at four years old and then turned into a weapon and is feared by everyone but is actually just misunderstood’ for a while now.” His smile turned into a cheeky grin as he turned his explanation into a chance to tease his friend.

Aizawa’s eyes widened, while Izumi raised an eyebrow. “Shut up Hizashi, don’t talk about that!” the underground hero bristled as he stood up with narrowed eyes at his friend, who began to laugh at seeing his friend getting embarrassed, which he could tell from the way Aizawa hid his face in his scarf.

Hizashi got his laughter under control before long and wiped a tear from his eye. “Come on Shouta, it’s obvious you care about her. I’ve seen the papers you’ve been looking at over the last month.” He wiggled his eyebrows at the underground hero as he gave the man a sly grin.

Aizawa froze for a moment, then he narrowed his eyes again as he activated his quirk. “You…”

“What papers?” Izumi asked suddenly, her interest now piqued by the blond’s teasing.

Hizashi turned to her with a smile. “Oh, the adop-”

He was interrupted as bands of white cloth suddenly wrapped around his mouth, muffling the rest of his sentence. 

“Shut up, right now Hizashi, or I  _ will _ break your neck,” Aizawa seethed, but with a red tint to his face, telling both Hizashi and Izumi that he was very embarrassed.

Hizashi began to laugh behind cloth and Izumi began to fall into a fit of giggles while Aizawa switched between glaring at both of them.

It took a few minutes before the laughing and giggling stopped, and once it did Aizawa was very tempted to just throw both of them out of the apartment, but knew in Izumi’s case that it was a terrible idea. “I hate both of you right now,” he grumbled annoyedly as he leaned back on the sofa.

Hizashi shot him a grin. “You love us, don’t lie.”

Izumi gave the underground hero a grin of her own. “Yeah, don’t say such things  _ Dad, _ ” she agreed, with the dad being sarcastic, but once again felt strangely right to do.

Aizawa tensed up at Izumi’s words, and this time the girl noticed. “Oh? What’s wrong Dad?” She asked again as she pressed him more.

Aizawa didn’t respond, but after a moment he raised his head and looked at her with narrowed eyes, but they didn’t feel annoyed, but scrutinising.

He finally let out a sigh. “Fuck it. Alright, you win,” he grumbled as he threw up his hands in exasperation, then stood up from the sofa and began to walk towards his room. “Stay here, I’ll be right back,” he further grumbled with annoyance.

Izumi blinked, not having experienced the hero react like that before, but Hizashi’s expression went to one of excited disbelief. “Oh my gosh, is he actually going to do it?” He asked aloud, which made Izumi look at him with a raised eyebrow.

After a minute Aizawa came back into the lounge with a small stack of papers in hand, which he smacked onto the coffee table, then sat down on the sofa again. “There, read them,” he instructed gruffly to Izumi, who was looking at him with a strange expression.

Her intrigue won over her want to bite back at his instruction and she turned to the stack of papers and picked them up.

She looked at the top, where in bold lettering it said several words.

**Adoption Form for Izumi Midoriya**

Izumi however didn’t know what it meant and looked up at Aizawa with confusion. “What does this mean?” She asked with confusion.

Aizawa sighed. “That’s an adoption form for you. If you agree to them and I write down my name, you’ll be my daughter and you’ll have my last name,” he explained gruffly, but there was a sense of tenseness mixed into it.

Izumi stared at him for a few moments, then turned to the papers, then back to him. “You want to make me your daughter?” She asked with a strange tone as she looked at him blankly.

Aizawa didn’t move for a moment, then he let out a sigh as he nodded. “Look, you don’t have to do it, but… since your biological mother was unwilling to take you back, and I know you the best and am the one you trust the most, I…” He drifted off as he became unsure of what to say. 

What he was doing was a big risk. She had no one at the moment, no real family, only him. He was closer to her than anyone else, and he wouldn’t admit it openly, but he felt a connection with her.

This was the logical course of action to him.

He was pulled out of his nervous thoughts as he felt something lean up against him, and he turned to find Izumi leaning up against him.

“If it’s you, then whatever, fine…” She answered quietly as she tried to seem indifferent, but if you could see her face then you would find a small happy smile on her face, which she was shyly hiding.

Aizawa blinked as he looked down at her. “Are you sure? This isn’t a simple or a small deci-”

Izumi rolled her eyes, not that he could see, and let out a huff. “I know, just… I want to actually call you dad…” She admitted lowly and with clear embarrassment.

She had thought about it ever since she first called Aizawa dad to tease him and noted how nice it felt to call him that, and had done it often since then, if only to appease her need to call him that, but each time she did she would always look down or to the side, which meant today had been the first time she noticed his reaction.

Aizawa looked down at Izumi with slightly widened eyes. She wanted to call him dad?

He stared at her for a few moments as he thought over what he had just heard from the girl.

_ ‘God, she somehow makes it so difficult to not like her,’ _ he thought to himself as he moved his arm and wrapped it around her shoulder. “Alright, if you want it too. But just so you know, I do have a… girlfriend, and she will want to meet you after I’ve adopted you,” he explained to her as he held her close.

Izumi hummed. “Fine. If you can tolerate her then I probably can too,” she answered with a fake dismissive tone.

Aizawa let out a small chuckle. “Yeah, probably,” he agreed with an amused tone.

They sat there for a moment in silence, and off to the side Hizashi was watching the two with a fond smile as he rested his chin on his hand.

After about five minutes, Aizawa released Izumi’s shoulder and turned to the papers, which Izumi was still holding onto. “Alright, if you’re sure about it then I’ll get to signing all of this.” He reached down and took the papers from the girl, then placed them on the coffee table and pulled out his pen.

With Izumi and Hizashi watching, Aizawa began the arduous task of signing down what he needed to, but it was thankfully a quick one and before they knew it the papers were signed.

Shouta turned to Izumi with a small grin. “There. When I give these papers to the police tomorrow you’ll be my daughter, and I’ll be your dad.” 

Izumi returned the grin, but there was genuine joy behind it as she did. “Thanks Dad,” she replied with joy clear in her voice as she leaned into him and wrapped her arms around the man.

Aizawa returned the gesture as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder again. “You’re welcome Izumi.” he replied with a fond tone.

“Does that make me the honorary uncle?”

Shouta and Izumi turned to Hizashi with deadpan expressions. “No,” both replied at the same time, making Hizashi sputter before laughing loudly at the identical reaction from them.

It looks like Izumi is going to be just fine living with Shouta.


	10. New People and New Situations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> September 12th. Chapter 1/1.
> 
> Izumi meets some people and has some experiences.

“Speech”  _ ‘thoughts’ _

Enjoy

  
  
  
  
  
  


The day after Izumi first arrived at the apartment, Aizawa went to the police station, with Izumi, to go drop off the adoption papers.

They drove to the police station together in between breakfast and lunch and arrived pretty quickly, since the station was close to where they lived.

Shouta drove the car into the station’s parking lot and parked it in one of the parking spaces, then turned the car off and turned to Izumi. “When we get in there, remember not to draw your sword or be aggressive with anyone, because-” 

Izumi blew a raspberry. “I know Dad, I’ve read enough about the police to know not to threaten them,” she responded dismissively.

Shouta looked at her for a moment, then nodded. “Good. Come on, let’s go drop this off, then we can pick something up on the way back.” He turned and opened the door as he spoke, then grabbed the file with the adoption form in it as he stepped out.

Izumi hummed. “Alright, but I want a burger like last time,” she replied as she opened her own door and stepped out as well.

Shouta let out an amused huff. “Fine, you can have a burger,” he answered with amusement.

Izumi skipped up next to Shouta and followed alongside him as they walked towards the entrance to the police station.

They entered inside after a moment and Shouta immediately went towards the desk.

As he did, the officer sitting behind it looked up. “Oh, hello Aizawa, are you here to see Detective Tsukauchi?” The officer asked as he greeted the underground hero.

Shouta shook his head. “No, not today, I’m here to deliver something else,” he answered as he put the file on the desk.

The officer raised an eyebrow. “Ah, files about a villain operation?” He asked curiously as he took the file and opened it.

Shouta shook his head. “No, adoption papers.”

The officer paused as he took the papers out and read the bold lettering at the top, then looked up at him. “Wha- Adoption? I didn’t take you for the type to adopt a child,” the officer admitted as he looked down at the papers again.

Shouta shrugged, then pointed down at Izumi, who was standing beside him. “Guess this little brat just managed to worm herself into my heart,” he said with a slightly joking tone.

Izumi giggled from beside him, then looked up at him. “You love me Dad and you know it,” she responded cheekily while grinning at him.

Shouta rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything to deny it.

The officer looked between the two for a moment, then hummed. “Well, alright, I’ll get these sent in then. Is there anything else?” He asked as he put the file off to the side.

Shouta shook his head. “No, that was all. You’ll call me if there are any complications with the adoption, right?” He asked as he turned halfway to leave.

The officer nodded with a smile. “Of course Aizawa, we’ll be sure to,” he answered easily.

Shouta nodded to the officer. “Thank you, have a good day.” He turned and began to walk towards the door again.

Izumi followed alongside him, but both stopped after a few steps as the officer called out to them. “Uh, Aizawa, why does the girl have a sword strapped to her back?”

Both Shouta and Izumi turned with a raised eyebrow each. “It’s part of her quirk and she knows how to use it,” the underground hero answered simply.

The officer blinked, then narrowed his eyes slightly. “Sir, I respect you, but that sounds very unlikely. She’s… what, ten, eleven years old?”

Shouta looked at the officer for a moment, but then he felt a small tug to his pant leg and looked down to see Izumi looking up at him. “Want me to show them?” She asked with a small grin.

Normally Shouta would immediately say no to such a suggestion, but he also knew that this could end with them trying to take her sword from her, and that would end ugly.

He let out a sigh. “You know what, fine, but make sure you don’t hurt anybody alright.” He turned to look around the room, which at this point only had a few officers watching the interaction. “Everyone back up, this is going to get a bit windy.”

The officers all blinked. “Windy?” One of the other officers asked.

Shouta nodded, then turned to Izumi. “Do a short version of your routine,” he instructed her.

Izumi grinned as she put her right hand on her sword. “Sure thing Dad.”

She stepped forward as she drew her sword.

Izumi held her sword in front of herself as she entered a stance, and before any of the officers tried to move and stop her, she swung her sword, causing a gust of wind to tear through the room, then another, and another.

After ten regular slices, she shifted her stance before swinging her sword fast enough for it to become a blur as she unleashed a flurry of slices.

Five seconds later she finished and returned to standing straight but she showed off for a moment as she twirled the sword in her hand before finally sheathing it.

Silence fell on the room as she finished and all the officers stared at Izumi with varied amounts of visible shock, but they were all definitely shocked.

This continued for a minute until Izumi couldn’t hold her amusement in and fell into a fit of giggles.

The giggling slowly made the officers return to their senses and they all began to process what they had seen.

“Aizawa, where did you find her?” The first officer asked as he looked at Shouta.

The hero shrugged. “I found her around,” he answered cryptically.

The officer stared for a moment, then slowly nodded. “Right… She… can keep the sword, since it’s obvious she’s proficient with it in some way,” he decided, though he still didn’t seem to like it.

Shouta nodded. “Good. Come Izumi, let’s go pick up lunch.” He turned to the door as he spoke and could hear as Izumi hurried up alongside him. “Yay, burger,” Izumi exclaimed happily. She liked burgers, a lot, and she blamed the burger she had gotten after the Inko incident.

They left the station full of police officers who were now reconsidering what they knew about the young generation.

* * *

Once they got home, and finished eating their burgers, Shouta sat Izumi down on the sofa and decided to have a talk with her. 

So,” Shouta began as he turned to her, “the Commission wants you to be kept away from the public and what not, but All Might and I have other plans. For the next few months I’m going to help you get caught up on all the school work you’ve missed out on, then once you’re ready we’re planning on having you attend a private school where you can learn without me needing to spend time away from my duties,” he explained to his daughter, though it technically hadn’t been made completely official yet.

Izumi looked at him for a moment, then frowned slightly. “School. That means lots of people, right?” She asked with a slightly gruff tone.

Shouta nodded. “Yeah, but they’ll be your age and they won’t be a threat to you, but if they somehow are then they’ll more than likely be removed from the school, since they’ll be a threat to all the other students too. The teachers will keep the peace and stop anything serious from happening, so you’ll be safe. You don’t have to trust anyone, but it will make it better for you if you make some friends at least,” he explained further but with a softer tone.

Izumi frowned further. She really, really didn’t like the idea of being surrounded by a ton of people she didn’t know, but if they were her age then it meant they would be weaker and less of a threat to her.

She rolled her eyes. “Fine. But if anything happens then I am not taking any kind of responsibility, got it?” She answered with an annoyed tone.

Shouta nodded. “I know, which is why me and All Might will. Just give it a chance, but also remember it won’t be until a few months when you’ve caught up to middle school level, alright?” He reminded her as he reached over and ruffled her fluffy hair lightly.

Izumi hummed as she leaned into his hand. “Right…”

Shouta nodded. “Good. Now, do you want to begin with me teaching you today or wait until tomorrow?” He asked with a raised eyebrow while letting his hand rest on Izumi’s head.

Izumi stared at her lap for a moment, then raised her head to look at him. “Tomorrow. I want to sit with you,” she answered as she scooted closer to him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

This was another thing Shouta had discovered the day before.

Izumi was touch starved.

While she acted standoffish even to him, she was actually very physically affectionate and seemed to crave it, but only asked for it with Aizawa, whom she fully trusted at this point.

In fact, she had asked to sleep with him the night before with a tone he had never heard from her. It had sounded close to pleading, and he couldn’t find it in him to say no, so he allowed her to scoot into his sleeping bag with him, then she slept with her arms wrapped around him like a koala, but not tight enough to bring discomfort to the underground hero.

So, in response he simply pulled her close and let her rest against him while grabbing the remote and turning on the TV.

For the next few hours a comfortable silence fell on the apartment as the two Aizawas relaxed together, and at some point Shouta decided to pull out his sleeping bag and lie down in it, while inviting Izumi to lay in it with him, which she accepted with little fuss.

* * *

After some time, the front door opened. “Hello, I’m home,” came Hizashi’s voice from the front door, but it wasn’t quirk enhanced like it was the day before.

“Wow, that was surprisingly quiet for you,” a new voice said a moment after.

Izumi immediately raised her head at the new voice and narrowed her eyes in the direction of the front door, but after a moment she felt a hand land on her head. “Calm down, that’s just another friend. She can be overbearing but she won’t hurt you,” Shouta assured her from just above her.

She looked up but could only barely see him looking at her, then she nodded. “Alright,” she answered simply, then settled back in against her dad.

The two Aizawas heard footsteps come down the hallway after a moment. “Hey Shouta where’s Iz-” Hizashi began as he came into the lounge, but as he got off to the side of the sofa, in view of the front, he paused as he saw that Izumi was laying in the sleeping bag along with Shouta.

He stared for a moment. “Hey Hizashi, where’s the girl yo-” A woman came into view after a moment and she likewise paused as she saw Izumi and Shouta laying together.

After a few seconds of staring, the woman let out a high pitched squeal. “OH MY GOSH YOU TWO ARE SO ADORABLE!” She exclaimed as she placed both of her hands on her cheeks.

Izumi narrowed her eyes at the woman, but didn’t say anything as Hizashi recovered. “Oh my gosh. Shouta, I didn’t take you for the type to do cuddling,” he teased as he grinned at the underground hero.

Shouta looked back at him with a tired look. “She wants it and I’m letting her get her fill,” he answered blankly as he stared at the blond.

Hizashi raised an interested eyebrow and looked at Izumi. “Oh really? Well I know you don’t really trust me yet, but if you ever need someone to just hug then I’ll always be available, alright little listener?” He smiled at her as he said this.

Izumi looked at him for a moment, then she nodded. “Right, I’ll remember that,” she answered with a blank tone.

Suddenly her vision was filled with purple, then a moment later she felt something begin to tug on her cheeks. “Oh you are such an adorable little thing aren’t you,” the woman cooed as she tugged on Izumi’s cheek.

Shouta and Hizashi’s eyes widened as she did this. “Nemuri, wait!” Hizashi exclaimed from behind her. Neither saw as a tick mark began to appear on the little girl’s forehead.

The woman- Nemuri, turned with a small pout. “Oh lighten up Hizashi, how can anything this cute h-”

Suddenly she was cut off mid sentence as she was suddenly and harshly wrenched to the side and into the air, surprising all three adults. “What the- Hey, what’s going on?” Nemuri questioned as she tried to move, but found herself stuck in place.

“ _ Don’t FUCKING touch me, ever again, without asking me if you can, you got that bitch? _ ” Izumi’s absolutely seething voice said from Shouta’s sleeping bag, and all the adults turned to see her glaring heavily at Nemuri.

But there was something else as well. 

Her eyes were glowing a dark green hue, bordered by black.

“ _ Do you understand? _ ” She asked again, still with a seething tone.

Nemuri, now thoroughly intimidated, nodded quickly. “Y-Yes I-I understand, I w-won’t do it again,” she answered quickly.

Izumi stared at her for a moment, then her eyes began to dim slightly while Nemuri began to float down to the ground again.

Her eyes stopped glowing entirely and Nemuri’s feet landed on the ground. “Stay the fuck away from me, I don’t like you,” Izumi stated angrily and bluntly as she kept glaring at Nemuri.

Nemuri felt like she had just been stabbed in the chest by Izumi’s words. “I… I-” 

She stopped before she managed to say anything as Hizashi put a hand on her shoulder, and she turned to him only to receive a shake of the head from him. “I told you not to do anything rash with her Nemuri, and this is why,” he responded simply with a slightly disappointed tone. Even he had been able to control himself around Izumi, and he was almost as bad as Nemuri usually was.

Nemuri stared at him with a lost and guilty expression before turning back to Izumi.

Izumi never stopped glaring at the woman, but her attention was pulled off of her slightly as she felt Shouta place a hand on her head, as he had when Hizashi and Nemuri arrived. “Calm down Izumi, I know you’re not happy with her but she won’t do anything, she just has a weakness for cute kids like you,” he explained. He was well aware that teasing her while she was in this state was risky, but he hoped flustering her a bit would distract her for a moment.

Izumi’s expression faltered for a moment at being called cute, and while she was still annoyed she now looked away from the woman as she knew that little tidbit. “Whatever, I’m not cute…” She mumbled under her breath, only loud enough for Shouta to hear.

Shouta grew a small grin as he knew he had an opportunity to get back at her for teasing him. “Wrong, you’re very cute, right Hizashi?” He looked up at his blond friend as he spoke and winked to him.

Hizashi immediately knew what he was doing and grew a grin. “Yep, she’s super cute, I thought she was an angel when I first saw her,” he answered with a cheeky tone and smile.

Izumi’s cheeks began to gain a rosy tint and a moment later she hid her face in the sleeping bag. “You’re both evil liars!” she said with a muffled voice, thanks to the sleeping bag.

Both men chuckled, and Nemuri stifled a giggle, being afraid to laugh aloud and get on Izumi’s bad side again.

After a moment Izumi’s eyes poked back up above the opening of the sleeping bag and she glared in Hizashi’s direction, but he could tell it wasn’t real. “Hey, come now little listener, I’m just speaking the truth, no need to give me that look,” he answered as he put up his hands in a fake surrender gesture.

Izumi’s eyes narrowed slightly further, then she rolled them and turned around in the sleeping bag to face the back of the sofa. “I don’t like any of you anymore…” She grumbled half heartedly. 

Shouta let out an amused huff as he wrapped his arms around the girl. “That’s a lie and you know it,” he replied with a small grin.

Izumi didn’t respond for a moment, then she nuzzled into his chest slightly. “Whatever…”

Shouta couldn’t stop the small fond smile that grew on his face, and he stayed quiet as he held his daughter close.

Hizashi and Nemuri saw this and decided to go elsewhere and leave the two alone. Izumi was clearly not in the mood for spending time with anyone other than Shouta.

For the next while up until dinner, Izumi and Shouta quietly laid on the sofa together while Hizashi and Nemuri went to the dinner table and either chatted or showed each other things on their phones.

Once dinner came, Izumi was sat on the opposite side from Nemuri, but allowed the woman to sit at the same table since she was apparently Shouta and Hizashi’s friend.

Some time after dinner Nemuri said her goodbyes to everyone, and another apology to Izumi, who answered it with a scoff and looking to the side, before then leaving the two Aizawas and Hizashi in the apartment.

Not long after that Izumi, Shouta and Hizashi went to sleep, and once more the two Aizawas slept in the yellow sleeping bag.

* * *

The next morning Hizashi went to work once more, leaving Izumi and Shouta in the apartment to begin catching the girl up on all the school work she’s missed out on.

Shouta sat down next to Izumi at the dinner table, then placed a small stack of books on the table. “There. We’ll begin on teaching you math for today, simple addition and subtraction, the basics,” he said as he turned to his daughter.

Izumi hummed as she looked at the cover of the top book, then looked up at Shouta and nodded. “Alright.”

Shouta nodded back, then he took the first book and opened it on the first page as he put it between him and Izumi. “First we’ll start with addition, since it’s the base of math. Since I know you’re smart, why don’t you try to figure it out by yourself first, but just ask me for help before you start losing your temper, alright?” He suggested as he pointed to the first bit of the book, which was an explanation about how to do it. He had already taught her how to count, which he did while she was still at the holding facility.

Izumi was looking down at the book as she nodded in understanding, then began to read it over.

She went quiet as she did this, then after a few minutes where she seemed to be thinking she looked up at him. “Do you have anything I can try it out on?”

Shouta nodded. “I have a sheet I drew up yesterday. These are easier math pieces you should be able to use to get the hang of it, then we can start moving onto the more difficult pieces later on,” he explained as he pulled a sheet of paper out from the stack of books, then placed it in front of the girl.

Izumi looked down at the sheet as she was given it, then hummed as she took the pen, which Shouta had also put down, and began to write down on the paper.

After a few minutes, as she took her time with each math piece, she put the pen down and turned to Shouta. “Did I get it right?” She asked curiously.

Shouta hummed as he pulled the paper over in front of himself, then quickly went over the answers.

He was unsurprised to see at least a few of them were right, but it was less than half of them. “You got a bit under half of them right, but a lot of the others were close,” he answered as he turned to Izumi with a small smile.

Izumi huffed as she pouted and crossed her arms. “Darn, I thought I got them all right…” She mumbled annoyedly.

Shouta let a small chuckle as he reached out and ruffled her hair. “Just be happy that you got as much right as you did. Most kids who learn this from scratch take a long time to reach this level, even those who might be your age and would just be learning it like you are,” he assured to the girl.

Izumi still stared at the table with a pout for a moment, then she huffed. “Fine, if you say so…” She grumbled as she sat up straight again.

Shouta shook his head fondly, then pushed the paper over to be in between the two of them. “Here, I’ll show you which you did wrong and where, then we can work on another set, alright?”

Izumi hummed as she turned to look at the paper, which he took as her agreeing, then he began to go over all the individual math pieces with Izumi.

For the next few hours, the two of them went over more and more math pieces, before eventually they decided to stop for the day.

Hizashi had come home during this time, without Nemuri, and began to make dinner, since Shouta couldn’t actually cook any real food.

The fact Hizashi could make good food did make Izumi like him more, but she was still a ways away from fully trusting him.

Regardless, she ate the food with gusto, then just two hours later her and Shouta went to bed, with Izumi once more holding onto the man like he was a teddy bear.

* * *

The next day, Izumi met another new person.

Izumi and Shouta were sitting at the table and once more looking over some math. It was a good thing that Nedzu, Shouta’s boss, had happily allowed the man to take as much time off to help Izumi get prepared for school and whatever else was required. He had even offered to personally take over teaching her, but Shouta said it was fine and that Hizashi, who also worked at the same place, had happily offered to take over the physical tasks while Shouta would handle the paperwork from home.

Izumi and Shouta were going over subtraction today instead of addition. “Is this right?” The girl asked as she turned to Shouta.

Shouta looked over the math pieces for a moment, then hummed. “You’re close on a lot of them, but you only got three right,” he answered as he pointed them out.

Izumi frowned, but didn’t say anything, having gotten used to the idea of the fact she was bound to get some of them wrong.

As Shouta went to show Izumi what she had done wrong on the math, there was a knock on the front door.

Both Aizawas raised their heads and blinked in the direction of the door, then Shouta’s eyes widened with realisation. “Oh shi-” He turned back to Izumi as he stood up. “I forgot there’s someone coming, just, stay here, I’ll make sure they don’t do what Nemuri did.” He walked towards the front door with hurried steps as he said this.

Izumi blinked, then her eyes narrowed slightly. She already disliked where this was going.

She decided she didn’t want to not see who it was that would be entering and hopped out of her chair.

She walked towards the hallway to the front door, and as she did, she could hear as Shouta opened the door.

“Hey Emi, how are you?” She heard the man ask someone in a strange tone.

“Hey Shouta, I’m feeling just perfect, how about you?” A female voice responded, a very cheery one.

Izumi arrived at the hallway and peeked around the corner.

As she did, she watched as Shouta leaned in and…  _ kissed _ a woman with green hair?

She blinked.  _ ‘Is that… his ‘girlfriend?’ _ She wondered as she watched the two hold the kiss for a few moments.

Izumi knew what a girlfriend was from the dictionary she had read while in the holding facility, and questioning Shouta an amount of course.

She narrowed her eyes slightly as she watched them separate, then continued to speak together.  _ ‘If she’s his girlfriend, then that means he trusts her…’ _

After a moment of thought, she made her decision, and stepped out. “Hey, who are you?” She asked as she approached the two.

Shouta and Emi both turned to Izumi and blinked, but after a moment the woman gasped. “Shouta, is that the girl you talked about?” She asked with a wide smile as she turned to Shouta.

Shouta let out a sigh. “Yeah, it’s her. Just, don’t do anything unless she tells you you’re allowed to, alright? She’s slow to trust and isn’t afraid to hurt you if she thinks it’s necessary,” he explained as he answered and gave the woman a pointed look.

Emi let out a laugh. “Come on Shouta, don’t be such a downer.” She then turned to Izumi, who had stopped with roughly four meters between her and the woman. “My name is Emi Fukukaido, hopefully soon to be Emi Aizawa, it’s nice to meet you,” she introduced cheerily.

Izumi kept her eyes on the woman. She was smiling a lot, which she wasn’t a fan of, but she got the feeling that it was simply part of who she was, and not because she was trying to seem friendly.

“Izumi, Izumi Aizawa,” she replied with a gruff tone as she crossed her arms.

Emi made another gasp tone, then turned to Shouta again. “You already adopted her? I’m hurt, I thought you were going to have me meet her first.” She seemed to put on a tone and look of mock hurt as she placed a hand on her chest.

Shouta rolled his eyes. “I got bullied into it by Izumi and Hizashi and decided screw it. Izumi wanted it anyway, so I don’t regret it, yet,” he answered, but he turned a pointed look at Izumi as he said the final word.

Izumi responded with a grin. “You love me old man and you know it.” 

Shouta let out a sigh, a fake one, while a smile crept onto his face. “Unfortunately.”

Izumi giggled at his response. She really didn’t regret accepting being adopted by him.

Izumi paused however when she heard Emi also laugh, and turned to see the woman with both arms on her stomach and laughing so hard that she may as well not be breathing.

Izumi narrowed her eyes. “What’s so funny?” She asked with a slightly threatening voice.

Emi continued to loud uproariously for a few seconds, then she seemed to begin to manage to calm down, but it did take a few seconds. “S-Sorry, I just thought t-that you two were super similar, it’s hilarious,” she answered while a few laughs still broke through.

Izumi kept staring at the woman for a moment, but calmed down as she recognised Emi wasn’t laughing  _ at _ her, but how her and Shouta interacted.

She let out a huff after a moment. “Fine, so long as it wasn’t me,” she huffed angrily.

Emi had to try quite hard not to laugh. She may like laughing and a joke, but even she knew when it was stupid and dangerous to do so.

Instead she coughed into her hand as she tried to dispel it, then turned to Shouta. “So, why don’t we go inside? Standing here by the door is pretty boring,” she asked with a grin.

Shouta let out a huff. “Sure, I wanna lay down anyway.” He turned to Izumi. “We’ll continue the math tomorrow, so just go sit on the sofa or something.” He gave her a dismissive wave as he told her this.

Izumi looked at the man for a moment, then turned to Emi for a moment, who just smiled at her, before turning and wordlessly making her way towards the sofa.

She sat down on the sofa and turned on the TV, then turned it to the Hero News channel. 

Why this one?

Because she enjoyed watching people fighting and getting hurt. She liked violence, sue her.

As she sat and watched a fight somewhere in Tokyo, she heard Shouta and Emi entering the lounge and turned to watch them.

She blinked when  _ both _ of them went towards the table. Why was Shouta not going to sit with Emi, and not  _ her _ ?

Izumi looked over the back of the sofa as Emi sat at the table, while Shouta went to the kitchen and seemed to begin making coffee.

The girl kept staring, even as Shouta finished the coffee and poured it into two cups, then went back to the table and sat beside the woman.

Izumi stared, and she stared.

Then, a feeling grew in her chest. A tight feeling, one she didn’t like.

She narrowed her eyes.

In a moment, Izumi disappeared from where she was on the sofa.

Suddenly, Izumi appeared in Shouta’s lap, surprising both adults, but before any of either of them could question the girl, Izumi took hold of Shouta’s arms and wrapped them around her.

Shouta was dreadfully confused now. He hadn’t tried having Izumi sit in his lap before, heck, he had thought she was against it. “Izumi?” He asked the girl as he looked down at her.

Izumi didn’t look up at him as she kept a hold on his arms and stared at Emi with narrowed eyes.

Emi just blinked, but after a moment her expression lit up for a moment before growing a smile. “Wait, are you  _ jealous _ ?” She asked as the smile turned into a slight grin.

Izumi narrowed her eyes, then turned to the side. “No. Why would I ever be jealous of a stupid woman like you talking to Dad,” she huffed as she leaned up against Shouta.

Emi looked for a second, then she began to laugh. “You are! You’re jealous that he’s talking with me.” She fell into a fit of laughter as she leaned back in her chair and almost fell over.

Izumi turned to the woman and puffed out her cheeks. “I am not!” She responded as her cheeks became slightly red.

Emi only laughed harder and actually managed to fall out of her chair.

Izumi gained a tick mark on her forehead, but she didn’t get up or do anything other than glare in Emi’s direction.

Above her, Shouta looked down at his daughter. 

He had never thought she would be jealous about him talking with someone other than her, or maybe it was the fact he had gone to sit at the table without her.

Shouta hummed, then moved a hand to place it on Izumi’s head, causing her to look up at him with an obviously angry expression. “Izumi, if you wanted to sit with me, all you had to do was come over. Emi’s my girlfriend, it’s sort of natural that I’ll spend time with her and it’s easier if you get used to that, but you are and always will be allowed to sit with us, alright?” He explained to the girl as he gave her a small amused grin. While he wasn’t about to laugh like Emi, he did find the situation very amusing.

Izumi rolled her eyes then lowered her head and let out a huff. “Whatever… Just don’t leave me…” 

Shouta blinked.  _ ‘Don’t leave her? Is she… is she afraid of being abandoned?’ _ He wondered with surprise.

Did Izumi suffer from some sort of separation anxiety, or simply a subconscious fear of him leaving her?

He would have to keep this in mind for the future.

Shouta turned to Emi, who was still laughing heavily off to the side. “Emi, calm down already, she’s going to hit you if you continue, and I’m pretty sure I’ve already told you about how strong she is,” he instructed the woman with a deadpan expression.

Emi continued to laugh, but after a few seconds the laughs began to die down, but it was slow.

Finally, after a minute, Emi began to push herself up as she managed to get her laughter under control. “S-Sorry, I c-couldn’t help it,” she said with small giggles breaking through occasionally as she pushed herself up into a sitting position on the floor.

Izumi turned to the woman, still with an upset expression. “You’re weird, weirdo,” she stated bluntly to the woman.

Emi began to snicker, but didn’t fall into a laughing fit as she got to her feet. “Yeah, she is, but it’s part of how she is,” Shouta added with a small shrug.

Izumi looked up at the man with a raised eyebrow, to which Shouta let out a small sigh. “She’s a hero, specifically the Smile hero: Ms. Joke, and her quirk is Outburst, and it lets her force others into laughing so hard they literally can’t function properly, like walking or thinking properly,” he explained to the girl.

Izumi blinked, then turned to look at Emi, who was sitting back in her seat, while still snickering occasionally.

Her eyes narrowed slightly at the woman. “If you ever use your quirk on me without me letting you, then I  _ will _ hurt you, you got that?” It was clear from her tone that this was no empty threat from the girl. 

Emi didn’t falter and kept smiling at the girl. “Sure! I promise not to use it unless you tell me to,” she answered, and despite the smile, her tone was honest.

Izumi stared at the woman for a moment, then she let out a huff and settled back in Shouta’s lap, and in response Shouta wrapped his arms around the girl again.

Emi’s smile softened as she saw this. “You know, when you sit like that, you really do look like a father and daughter,” she stated with a soft tone.

Shouta and Izumi both blinked at the woman, then they looked at each other.

After staring for a few moments, Izumi gained a small smile, then lowered her head and leaned against the man’s chest. “Thanks Dad… I love you…” Her voice was small, but Shouta heard it clearly, and Emi heard it slightly, but said nothing, knowing it was idiotic to do so.

Shouta looked at the girl for a moment, then he likewise gained a small smile and lowered down, and softly kissed her on the head. “I love you too, Izumi.”

Izumi’s smile widened, but she said nothing as she just stayed leaning against the man.

Shouta didn’t say anything as he raised his head and looked at Emi. “So, what were we talking about again?” He asked the green haired woman.

Emi let out a giggle, before picking up her cup of coffee. “I was talking about a student, about how he somehow managed to get his butt, literally, stuck in a barrel. We still aren’t even sure  _ where _ the barrel came from, but he managed to get stuck in it anyway.” She let out a laugh as she finished recollecting, the memories of the scene pushing her over the edge.

Shouta deadpanned. “You’ve got to be kidding me. How the hell did he manage that?” He asked with an equally deadpan tone.

Izumi let out a giggle. “He got stuck in a barrel?” She asked as she looked at Emi with a grin.

Emi nodded. “Yeah! We have  _ no _ idea how he managed it, but he somehow managed to literally get his butt stuck in the only barrel in probably  _ kilometers _ ,” she answered as before laughing uproariously.

Izumi fell into a fit of giggles. The image of someone literally being stuck in a barrel in the way she was describing was just too hilarious. 

Emi smiled slightly victoriously, glad to see she was able to make the girl laugh without her quirk.

After a moment Izumi managed to recollect herself and looked at the woman again. “What happened after? Did he stay stuck?” She asked with a slightly giddy voice. Maybe this woman wasn’t so bad.

Emi let out a laugh. “Nah, we all saw it happen, but it did take us a few good minutes before any of us went to help him. We were laughing way too hard to go help him immediately, but when we did we had to break the barrel, because he was just  _ that _ stuck.”

Izumi fell back into laughter, genuine laughter, the kind that came from one’s stomach.

Shouta blinked. This was… a far cry from how Izumi usually acted, but, then again, she was still a child, no matter how much she acted like an adult.

Shouta let out a small chuckle. 

He was glad to see that she could still laugh like this.


	11. The Flame's Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> September 19th. Chapter 1/1.
> 
> The world is told of the former number 2's actions in secret.

“Speech” _‘thoughts’_ **“Telephone/TV/Microphone”**

Enjoy

  
  
  
  
  
  


After a few days, Izumi was sitting and watching TV with Shouta and Hizashi. The blond was sitting on the other side of Shouta from Izumi.

As they sat and watched, Shouta’s phone suddenly began to ring.

All three sitting on the sofa blinked, then Izumi and Hizashi turned to Shouta as he moved to pull out his phone. “You rarely get calls, other than from Emi, but you have a schedule for that, right?” The blond asked with a raised eyebrow.

Shouta hummed. “Yeah, and it’s not now…” He looked at the screen as he pulled it out.

He blinked when he saw who it was. “All Might?” He questioned aloud.

Izumi blinked, while Hizashi sputtered. “ALL MIGHT?!” The blond exclaimed loudly, but thankfully not with his quirk.

Shouta turned to the man and used his quirk. “Shut up Hizashi, I’ve told you I was working with All Might after the raid.” He turned back to the phone as he stopped using his quirk and gained frowned. “But why is he calling me now?..”

He let out a sigh, then clicked the button to answer the call and brought it up to his ear. “All Might.”

**“Aizawa, hello. I’m sorry if I interrupted anything, but I have something important to tell you.”**

Shouta hummed. “We were just watching TV. What is it?” He asked, getting right to the point.

A chuckle came from the otherside.  **“Right to the point, of course. I just wanted to inform you that tomorrow I’ll be making an announcement that… partially concerns young Izumi.”**

Shouta sat up straight upon the mentioning of Izumi. “What and how does it concern her?” He asked as he narrowed his eyes, but it looked as if he was glaring at the TV.

**“It’s nothing bad, I promise, in fact it may actually inadvertently prove to paint her in a… better light to many people.”**

Shouta calmed down slightly at this, but he still hadn’t heard that it was. “So, what is this announcement?” He asked as he leaned forward onto his knees.

**“...We’ve found evidence that Endeavor forced his wife into a quirk marriage.”**

Shouta paused for a moment.

“So it was true… I owe Nedzu some tea.”

**“Pardon me?”**

Shouta shook his head. “Nevermind, I just heard some… rumours about it from Nedzu.”

**“Ah… Right. Well, in that case, I suppose you won’t be that shocked with what we’ll be explaining tomorrow. Do you have any questions?”**

Shouta went quiet for a few moments. “What about the announcement of Izumi’s guilty or not guilty verdict?” He asked the Symbol of Peace.

**“Ah, right, we were planning to talk about that as well, since she’s been released now. We’ll also mention that she’s living with a hero that’s capable of keeping a handle on her, but we won’t mention your name or hero identity, so you don’t need to worry about that.”**

Shouta stayed quiet for a few moments, then he let out a hum. “Good. I have nothing else I want to ask, just make sure you don’t screw it up,” he said with a small grin.

There was some sputtering from the other side for a moment.  **“R-Right, N-Nedzu and Tsukauchi will be with me, so I… I’ll probably be stopped before I say anything wrong.”**

Shouta let out an amused huff. “Right. Go do whatever you need to do All Might, but… thanks for informing me beforehand.”

All Might chuckled.  **“Of course Aizawa. We’ll speak again another day. Take care of yourself, and young Izumi of course. Goodbye.”**

Shouta let out an affirmative grunt. “Right, bye.” He then pulled the phone away and ended the call.

He pocketed the phone, then turned to Izumi, who was looking at him curiously. “As you heard, that was All Might. He just called to tell me that he’s going to make an announcement tomorrow, specifically that Endeavor forced his wife into a Quirk Marriage.”

Izumi blinked at him, but as she opened her mouth to speak, Hizashi suddenly exclaimed. “A QUIRK MARRiage?!” 

Shouta turned halfway through the blond’s shout and used his quirk to make the man stop using his quirk. “Shut up Hizashi, and yes, a Quirk Marriage.” He turned back to Izumi, who had been remaining quiet. “You read about Quirk Marriages in the law books we gave you, right?”

Izumi nodded. “Yeah, they’re illegal, but were common around the second generation of quirk users. People did them to intentionally create children with a powerful combination of their quirks, but it was seen as inhuman, and because of that was outlawed.” As she spoke, a tick mark began to appear on her forehead.

She looked Shouta in the eye as she said this next thing. “If he did that shit to someone, then I’m glad I killed him, even if I don’t remember it.”

Shouta frowned lightly, then raised a hand and lightly chopped the girl on the head. “While I agree that he’s scum for what he did, you should never be happy about killing someone, even if it’s someone like that,” he reprimanded the girl, but not angrily or gruffly. 

Izumi pouted as she calmed down. “Whatever, he’s still an asshole,” she huffed out as she turned to the TV with her arms crossed.

Shouta rolled his eyes. “I’m not saying he isn’t, just that you shouldn’t be happy about another person’s death, no matter who it is,” he replied as he likewise turned to the TV.

Beside them Hizashi was still in obvious shock. “Why are you two so calm about this?!” He shouted loudly.

Shouta shrugged. “He attacked Izumi unprovoked and tried to kill her, just because he couldn’t be bothered to try and find a way to stop her without hurting or killing her. I’m not surprised he would do something as shitty as a Quirk Marriage,” the underground hero responded dismissively, but with an obviously angry undertone.

Hizashi looked at his friend for a moment. He had been told a lot about the raid while spending time with Shouta, largely when the underground hero would become drunk and speak without thinking. Thankfully they never went out to bars or anything of the sort, so it never got farther than the blond.

The more he thought about it, the more Endeavor seemed like a villain in disguise.

Perhaps… Perhaps he even was. One certainly couldn’t call him a hero if he had truly done all they claimed he had.

Hizashi’s eyes drifted to Izumi, who was quietly sitting and watching the TV.

His brow furrowed after a moment, and he made his decision.

Fuck, Endeavor.

* * *

The day turned over, and Izumi, Shouta and Hizashi kept a close eye on the TV. They had agreed to watch the announcement, to see what exactly it was they had discovered.

Then, around noon, all the channels suddenly turned to a news anchor. 

**“We apologise for interrupting your regularly scheduled program, but we have received news that All Might is intending to hold a press conference at UA. We have been given no information as to the contents of this conference, but our affiliates are already stationed on campus and we’ll be turning over to them now.”**

The view on screen changed as the news anchor spoke and showed what Shouta and Hizashi recognised as the school’s auditorium.

There was silence for a few minutes, until All Might walked out onto the stage, and following close behind was Tsukauchi and Nedzu.

Flashes went off as the many photographers present began to take pictures of the Symbol of Peace, detective and principal.

Nedzu walked up to the podium first and somehow hopped up to the microphone, then tapped it quickly to check if it was on. 

Once he was sure it was on, he cleared his throat, then raised a paw.  **“Greetings reporters and general public, and welcome to UA, though briefly it may be. I am Nedzu, the school’s principal, and I thank you all on our behalf for coming today, despite the short notice.”**

The principal then half turned and pointed to All Might and Tsukauchi.  **“As you all are likely wondering why we have asked you all here, I will answer it to you now. Over the last few months, I, the police, and All Might have been spearheading an investigation after receiving some… very controversial information.”** The rodent turned back to the crowd as he spoke, but his smile was gone now and replaced with a blank, almost upset look.

The reporters blinked at this look, and immediately they were reminded of All Might announcing Endeavor’s death.

Nedzu gestured to All Might.  **“I will let All Might reveal the details himself, as he was the one who initiated the investigation.”** The principal proceeded to step down from the podium and make his way over to the three seats set up on the back of the stage, where All Might stood up from and made his way to the podium.

The Symbol of Peace stopped as he arrived at the podium, then took a moment to seemingly gather his thoughts.

The man let out a sigh.  **“Several months ago, I revealed to you all that Endeavor lost his life in a raid. Today… I have to tell you something we discovered about the man, something… frankly horrendous.”**

Nobody liked that.

All Might looked over the crowd for a moment with a solemn but serious expression.  **“I don’t want to seem like I’m smudging the man’s name after his death, but this** **_needs_ ** **to be addressed.”**

The hero looked directly into one of the cameras.  **“We’ve discovered that Enji Todoroki, better known as Endeavor, forced his wife into a Quirk Marriage.”**

Silence fell.

For a few seconds, all there was, was silence.

Then the uproar began.

A Quirk Marriage? They were accusing the former number two hero of having instigated a Quirk Marriage?

All Might gestured for everyone to calm down.  **“Please, let me finish before you ask questions. I know what it sounds like, but we have proof.”**

It took a few long seconds, but the crowd of reporters and photographers did calm down eventually. 

Once they did, All Might gave them a grateful nod.  **“As I said, my intent isn’t to smudge his name, just bring what has been done to light. According to all the information we have uncovered, Enji Todoroki, quite literally, purchased his wife from her parents. His goal appears to have been to father a son with a combination of his fire quirk and his ‘wife’s’ ice quirk, with the sole purpose of having this child be a successor capable of taking my place as the number one hero.”**

Gasps rang through the crowd and the country.

All Might continued, while trying to contain his anger as best he could.  **“During this time, he abused both his wife and children. His wife for ‘defying’ him, and his children under the guise of so-called ‘training’. At some time after the birth of the fourth child, who had the combination of fire and ice he was looking for, his wife, Rei Yuki, suffered a mental break as a result of this abuse, and scarred her son physically by pouring boiling water upon his left side, claiming it to ‘look too much like** **_him_ ** **’. Enji Todoroki henceforth had her confined to a mental ward, even after she was deemed mentally fit to return home. He was able to keep her there by bribing or blackmailing the staff. The staff in question have all confessed to this happening, and the appropriate punishments have been given as a result.”**

This was a surprise to many. The hero had bribed hospital staff to keep his wife confined?

This was a scandal the likes of which had likely not been seen in decades.

All Might went quiet for a few moments as he recollected himself, then with another sigh he looked out over the crowd of reporters.  **“Before we go on to the questions, I want to say one last thing.”** The man looked straight into a camera.  **“It doesn’t matter who you are, or the person who is doing it is. If you are being abused, or forced into something like this, tell us. We will listen, we will initiate an investigation and figure out the truth. As you can hear, not even the number two hero was above doing such heinous acts, and if he is willing, then many more are as well. Please, don’t stay quiet and in pain, speak up, and let us offer you the help you need.”**

The man’s words were a heartfelt plea, a plea for those oppressed by another to come forth and let the police and heroes help, as they’re supposed to, to not let those drunk with or hungry for power control others.

The reporters stared at the hero, while he lowered his head again for a few moments.

All Might raised his head again, finally.  **“Alright, I’m ready to answer questions.”**

The reporters stared at the hero for several long moments. Many of them were still coming to terms with what they had been told, the idea that Endeavor had… done all they claimed was quite difficult to believe.

Finally, one reporter raised his hand.

All Might pointed to the man, and the reporter stood up.  **“All Might… sir… Sorry, I’m still having trouble wrapping my head around all of this… How did you come about this information?”** The reporter asked, but it was clear from his expression he was still slightly overwhelmed.

All Might grew a soft smile.  **“I understand, but I felt it was required that I tell the public personally. As for how we came about the information, I was told by Rei Yuki, Endeavor’s former wife, herself. Before his death, I told Endeavor I would make sure his family didn’t suffer after his death, but when I told Rei this, she explained the truth of what they had gone through. Naomasa Tsukauchi, the detective sitting behind me, confirmed the story from Rei and her children as the truth, and as I’ve said we’ve found proof of everything, including a copy of the Quirk Marriage contract her parents signed under.”** He turned and gestured to the wall behind him, where a projection from the projector hanging above lit up and showed the contract in question.

The reporters remained quiet for a minute as they looked over the contract. They weren’t professionals when it came to contracts, but they were fairly certain it was legit.

All Might turned back to the reporter after a moment.  **“Is there anything else you want to ask?”**

The reporter’s eyes fell back down to the hero, but he remained quiet for several moments.

He then shook his head.  **“No… I don’t have anything more right now…”** The reporter proceeded to sit down as he spoke.

All Might nodded, then went to look over the crowd again.  **“Anyone else?”**

Again, it took a few seconds before anyone raised their hand.

Once a reporter did, All Might pointed them out and she stood.  **“What does this mean for Endeavor’s actions as a hero? Will all that he’s done in the past be made mute?”**

All Might hummed, then turned to Nedzu and Tsukauchi with a questioning look.

Back in the apartment, Izumi turned to Shouta with a small frown. “What the hell are they talking about?” She asked with a slightly confused tone.

Shouta side eyed her while narrowing his eyes slightly as well. “Don’t swear, and they’re talking about what happened to the Todoroki family, more specifically what Endeavor did to them. It looks like they’re all still in shock, since they aren’t crawling over each other to get All Might’s attention,” he explained as he turned back to the screen.

Izumi looked at the man for a moment, then turned back to the TV. 

**“-Does that answer your question?”** All Might asked the reporter as he finished explaining.

The reporter nodded.  **“Yes, thank you All Might.”**

The reporter sat down, and All Might looked over the other reporters, then pointed to another who had their hand raised.

The reporter stood up.  **“Sir, will this revelation have any effect on White’s judging in terms of Endeavor’s death?”**

All Might’s expression remained blank for a moment.  **“No, in fact, she’s already been found not guilty and was released into the capable hands of a hero, who will assure that she stays on her best behaviour as we reintegrate her with society.”**

The auditorium went quiet, and the country likewise fell silent.

**“Sir, White has been… released?”** The reporter asked with a slightly pale face.

All Might nodded.  **“Yes, but you don’t need to worry, she’s been behaving very well. What happened during the raid seems to have indeed been a one time thing, likely caused by her somehow managing to resist against the villain’s orders,”** he answered with a reassuring smile.

The reporters shared glances for a moment, then the standing reporter looked back at All Might.  **“May I ask who this hero she’s with is? If she was supposed to be able to... kill you, then I can’t imagine there are many, if any heroes capable of stopping her…”**

All Might let out a chuckle.  **“You’re very right, but you don’t need to worry. I won’t name the hero, for reasons, but the hero has an erasure type quirk, which is the most effective way of stopping her, but she’s been on good behaviour and understands that if she acts out she’ll never be free again. However, as she has a transformation type quirk, you are unlikely to recognise her in public,”** he explained to the reporters while continuing to give them a reassuring smile.

The reporter still looked very unsure about it, but instead of them speaking another stood up.  **“Shouldn’t someone who’s as dangerous as her be locked away? She’s a danger to the public if she was meant to kill you and was able to kill Endeavor, such an unstable person should** **_not_ ** **be allowed free.”**

In the apartment, Izumi’s eye twitched as a tick mark appeared on her forehead.

Beside her, Shouta began to feel something permeating the air, originating from the girl beside him.

He turned to see Izumi glaring heavily at the TV. “Iz-”

“Dad. Call All Might.”

Shouta blinked. “What?”

Izumi turned and aimed her glare at Shouta. “I said. Call All Might.  **Now** .” Her tone was clearly angry, very angry, and her glare was heavy.

Shouta found himself unwillingly tensing up, but he kept calm. “Izumi, wh-”

“JUST FUCKING CALL HIM ALREADY!” She yelled suddenly as she gained a heavy scowl.

Shouta knew  _ immediately _ that she was too far into her anger at this point to calm her down without doing as she was asking, and reluctantly knew what was best to do. “Alright, but I can’t promise he’ll answer the phone.” He pulled out his phone as he spoke, while remaining calm. He was, fairly, certain that she wouldn’t attack him, but he couldn’t say the same about his apartment.

Shouta dialed the number, but as he moved to bring it up to his ear, Izumi extended her arm. “Give it,” she ordered with a ‘don’t argue with me or I’ll hurt you’ tone.

Shouta didn’t argue, and handed the phone over.

Izumi took the phone and turned to the TV as she brought it to her ear.

In the UA auditorium, All Might’s speech was cut off by the sound of a ringtone sounding out.  **“Oh, my apologies, I have an important call,”** he apologised as he pulled out his phone and stepped to the side, while Tsukauchi stood up and went up to the podium.

All Might raised an eyebrow as he saw the caller ID, but as he thought about what had been said over the last two or three minutes, he grew worried. 

He quickly answered the call. “Aiza-”

**“Make it so they can hear me.”**

All Might blinked as a young girl’s voice spoke through the phone, a very familiar voice. “Young Izumi?” 

**“Make it so those assholes can hear me. Right. Now. Or I’ll come there myself, you got that?”**

All Might tensed up as he registered the girl’s tone. She was angry,  _ very _ angry. “A-Alright, I-I’ll d-do it, just p-please do not do anything rash.”

He turned to the podium and went up to Tsukauchi, who was talking to the crowd on the hero’s behalf. 

The detective paused as the hero tapped his shoulder and turned to him.

All Might brought a hand up to cover the side of his mouth, so the crowd couldn’t see him speak. “Naomasa, young Izumi is on the phone. She wants to talk to the crowd, and she sounds  _ very _ upset.”

Tsukauchi paused for a moment, then his eyes widened. “She wants to talk to the crowd? Shit, she’s watching this, isn’t she?” He asked as he began to panic slightly internally.

All Might nodded. “Yes, and she said that if we don’t make it so they can hear her, she  _ will  _ come here personally. While she may be angry, I do not believe she will truly do or say anything that can hurt her own position. We both know how careful she is with other people,” he added as he explained what she had said to him.

Tsukauchi didn’t like it, not one bit, but he saw the logic. Izumi was smart, very smart, and was unlikely to say anything that would hurt her position.

And if she was angry, angry enough that Aizawa had listened to her and let her talk to the Symbol of Peace, then denying her this was likely going to result in her simply making her way to UA, as she had said. He did not doubt that she would do that, but if she did then keeping her hidden was going to be extremely difficult.

The detective sighed. “Alright, tell the public while I see about getting your phone connected,” he instructed as he gestured for the man to hand over his phone.

All Might didn’t hesitate, knowing that Izumi was still watching, and gave his friend the phone, then traded places and went up to the podium.

All Might put on a smile.  **“Sorry about that, but there’s been a minor… change of plans,”** he apologised to the crowd. 

The reporters blinked, then one of the two standing ones spoke up, not the one that had asked for White to be put away. “Are you leaving sir?” She asked with a small frown.

All Might raised a hand and made a dismissive wave.  **“No no, I’m not leaving, but… Well, I’ve… received a phone call, and, well, there’s someone who wants to talk to the crowd. Detective Tsukauchi is currently working on connecting my phone to the speakers, so you all will be able to hear them,”** he explained while trying to maintain a warm smile.

The reporters shared looks, then the reporter that had asked for White to be put away spoke up. “May we know who it is?”

All Might’s smile became wobbly.  **“I… believe she will tell you herself.”**

The loudspeakers crackled for a moment, and All Might turned to Tsukauchi.

The detective gave a thumbs up, to which All Might returned a nod.

The Symbol of Peace turned back to the crowd, but didn’t address them as he spoke up.  **“Can you hear me?”**

**“Yeah.”**

The reporters blinked as a clearly young female voice spoke through the loudspeakers.

All Might nodded, then gestured to the crowd.  **“Then speak your mind, but please, have some discretion.”**

A huff came through the speakers.  **“I’m not fucking stupid All Might, I’m just angry.”**

Everyone blinked again, but the voice continued.  **“Alright, listen up you shit heads. This is White speaking, the girl you fuckers want put away for something another person did.”**

Everyone paused for a moment, then their eyes widened.

**“Since you assholes seem to think that you know better about what needs to be done with me, let me school you about what it’s like to wake up in the middle of a city with** **_no_ ** **knowledge of what anything is.”**

The reporters remained wide eyed, but some flinched at her words, already imagining what it was like just from those few words.

**“I woke up in a fucking alley, having no idea where I was, who I was other than a single word, or** **_what_ ** **I was. I ate shitty, basically rotten food out of trash cans for four months while trying to learn what I could about you weird fucking things walking around and using your weird moving metal boxes. Then, I come to find out that the reason I am how I am is because some fucker tried to make me into a weapon and force me to kill others, and in doing so took me from my mother, who I now don’t remember because the fucker tried to** **_brainwash me_ ** **. I then come to find out that all of you fuckers are afraid of me because I tried** **_not_ ** **to do as the villain wanted and lost control, then some big shot motherfucking hero decided it was a smart idea to attack me, and somehow** **_I’m_ ** **the bad guy for him dying as a result of his own stupid decision.”**

**“So, now that you fuckers know all of that, try again to say that** **_I’m_ ** **the one in the wrong. I. Fucking. Dare. You.”**

Silence fell on the auditorium for several, very long moments.

All the reporters held their heads low as they stayed quiet.

In her home, Izumi glared at the TV as she stood in front of the sofa. “I didn’t fucking think so. Let me make one thing very god damn clear. I. Will. NOT kill, unless they try to kill me first and there’s no way around it. I promised someone I wouldn’t.”

Izumi turned around and looked directly at Shouta, while her expression softened slightly. “See, I have someone who cares about me now, and I made them a promise. Unless I’m attacked, I will not attack. Unless I am threatened by someone, I will not threaten someone. And above all else, unless there is no way around it. I. Will. not. Kill. I will not lower myself to the level of the one who turned me into this monster unless they truly deserve it.”

As she spoke, Shouta grew an approving smile, and it grew with each point.

Izumi returned the smile in the form of a grin. “So yeah, that’s all I had to say. Hope you all think next time before saying stupid shit. Bye.”

She promptly pulled the phone away from her ear, then did as she had seen Shouta do and pressed the red button on screen, ending the call.

A moment later she raised her arms above her head and let out a pleased sound as she seemed to stretch out. “Ah, that felt great.” She then looked to her dad and walked over. “Thanks Dad, I feel much better now,” she said as she handed the man the phone.

Shouta shook his head, then accepted the phone. “You swore more than I’d like, but I’m proud of what you said anyway. I’ll be honest, I half expected you to just cuss them out for a bit, but then I could see what you were going for.” 

He reached out and placed a hand on the girl’s head, while giving her a proud smile. “Good job Izumi.” His tone as he spoke held genuine pride.

Izumi’s eyes widened slightly.

But, after a moment the edges of her mouth travelled upwards, and she gained a joyous smile. “Thanks, Dad.”

Shouta looked at her for a moment, then ruffled her hair and retracted his hand. “Come on, sit down and let’s watch something else,” he invited as he patted the seat beside him.

Izumi didn’t waste a moment and hopped up onto the sofa beside the man, then cuddled into his side.

Shouta let out a small chuckle, then grabbed the remote and changed the channel.

As he did, he felt something nudge him on the opposite side of Izumi.

He turned to find Hizashi grinning at him. 

Shouta narrowed his eyes. “What?” He asked in a low voice.

The blond stared for a moment, then shook his head. “Nothing, just… I haven’t seen you smile like that in a long time. I’m glad you’ve found something that can make you smile like that,” he answered in a soft tone as he turned to look ahead.

Shouta stared for a moment, then he wordlessly turned back to the TV.

But after a few seconds, his eyes travelled down to Izumi, who was nuzzled into his side and watching the TV.

For a moment, he just stared.

Then, he grew a small smile.

He moved his arm and wrapped it around the girl, then he held her close while turning back to the TV.

_ ‘I don’t regret taking her in, and I don’t think I ever will.’ _


	12. School Fright

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> October 3rd. Chapter 1/1. Thank you to Whitetiger for betaing this chapter in place for my very busy betas.
> 
> Izumi goes to school, but not the one might expect.

“Speech” _ ‘thoughts’ _

Enjoy

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Several weeks following the announcement of Endeavor’s crimes, many changes had happened not just in Japan, but the entire world.

Throughout almost every country, many people came forwards with claims of abusive heroes and families. The majority were quickly discovered as being true, however, like all things some were discovered to have been falsified, and some were still being investigated.

But the point at this current moment in time, is not about this, but rather Izumi.

More specifically, where she’s going this day.

Izumi was looking out of the window of her father’s car as they drove through the city. 

It was a slightly strange day. For some reason, despite having been given permission to stay at home to teach Izumi until she was ready for school, Shouta was suddenly called in for something at work.

From what Izumi had been told by him, it involved some training that he had to be there for.

When Izumi asked him what he meant by training, he reminded her that he was a teacher, but elaborated that he was a Hero Course teacher. Basically, he taught students how to be heroes.

Izumi didn’t think he seemed like the type of person to be a teacher that taught people how to be heroes, and stated as much, and the answer she gained was that he didn’t trust anyone else to teach these students, as it would just result in more heroes who work for the money or fame.

Izumi had to admit, in her mind, being a hero was like how All Might did it. Doing it to help people and beat bad guys, not to receive anything like money in return, just considering it a perk.

Izumi was a bit surprised when she was told that she would have to go with him, that apparently he didn’t trust her to be alone at home for several hours, that and the fact she was eleven years old, which definitely wasn’t enough for him to leave her alone anyway, if you ignored the entire fact he was supposed to be watching over her at all times.

So, that’s how she found herself driving to this ‘UA’ with her father and Hizashi, who she had come around to trust, though she did dislike that she had to sit in the backseat because of him.

As she looked out the window, she had a thought and turned to her father. “Hey Dad, am I going to be staying with you?” She asked the man with a curious tone.

Shouta didn’t respond for a few moments, then he let out a sigh. “Yeah, probably, since you don’t really trust anyone else there other than Hizashi, and I doubt you want to spend all day listening to him shouting, do you?” He asked as he looked into the back view mirror.

Izumi grimaced at the idea. “No thanks, I like my hearing the way it is,” she answered as she shook her head.

Hizashi turned around and gave her a mock look of hurt as he placed a hand on his chest and gasped. “You wound me Izumi, I thought you loved me.”

Izumi turned to him with a deadpan look. “I tolerate you Hizashi. Time will tell whether it remains that way or changes,” she answered with a blank tone.

The blond let out a fake pained sound and turned back ahead to sulk, while Shouta let out a chuckle. “That’s what you get for being an obnoxious loudmouth.” The underground hero wore his frightening grin as he side eyed his friend for a moment.

Hizashi crossed his arms and let out a huff. “You two are too similar not to be blood related…” The blond grumbled out with a pout.

Shouta shook his head but said nothing while Izumi let out a giggle.

For the next while until they arrived at their destination, all that could be heard in the car was the sound of the radio, and, after a minute, Shouta and Hizashi talking together about varying subjects, largely involving school or hero work.

Izumi tuned it out as she kept looking out of the window or adjusting her sheath and sword, which she had been allowed to bring as she couldn’t be calm without it, as was seen when she repeatedly punched her cell wall until All Might got her sword in the holding facility.

But eventually, Shouta spoke up. “We’re here Izumi.”

Izumi blinked and turned to look ahead, out of the front window.

Her eyes widened slightly as she took in the large building ahead of her. “That’s UA? It’s huge,” she noted with a slightly awed tone.

Hizashi turned to her with a smile. “Yep, but that’s only the main building. The actual area owned by the school is really huge, and they even have entire fake cities inside,” he explained to the girl with an excited smile.

Izumi’s eyes gained small sparkles at the idea.  _ ‘They have entire cities inside. That sounds awesome.’ _

She watched as the car pulled up along a large wall of some kind, then drove along it for a short while before slowing and turning to two large metal slabs in the wall.

As the car pulled up to the two slabs, Shouta opened the window and reached out towards a small stand of some sort.

After a moment he pulled his hand back, then a rumble sounded out, and Izumi watched with amazement as the two metal slabs ahead of the car began to retract to the sides.

Once the slabs were out of the way, Shouta drove forwards into campus, and once past the gate it began to close again.

As the car drove to the parking spaces, Izumi’s eyes were glued outside on the building she had seen as they neared the campus. It was very large, in a different way from the skyscrapers in the city. 

This one held a strange sense of superiority, of…  _ power _ . 

She was shaken out of her staring as the sound of the engine left the air, and Izumi turned to see Shouta and Hizashi unbuckling their seatbelts. “We’re here Izumi, you can get out now. Remember not to smash the door into the other car,” her father reminded her as he opened his own door and moved to step out.

Izumi rolled her eyes, but didn’t comment. Yes, she had done that once, literally smashed the door open into another car. It had dented both cars quite a bit, and included some not so kind words from the owner of the other car.

Izumi unbuckled herself and opened the car door, but this time she was mindful of the other car and got out without the door touching.

Once out of the car she closed the door, obviously, and hurried to walk beside Shouta, who had continued to walk towards the building.

As she came up beside the man, she reached out and grabbed hold of the man’s pant leg, as she had come to do while out with the man. It comforted her.

She looked around as she did this and remained vigilant of everything. While this was her father’s work place, it was also a school, which meant a lot of people she didn’t know and didn’t trust would be there.

As they walked, she felt something take a hold of her hand holding onto Shouta’s pant leg.

Her head whipped around to her hand, but she paused and blinked when she saw what was on her hand. 

It was Shouta’s hand, and as she looked, the man softly urged her hand to let go of his pant leg, which she let happen after a moment, then he shifted his hand so her hand was in it.

Izumi stared at her hand in Shouta’s for a few moments, then she looked up at the man.

She found him side eyeing back at her. “Nobody will do anything to you, and if they do, then I’ll throw them out of this school myself, alright?” He assured as he grew a small smile.

Izumi’s expression was blank as she continued to stare for a few moments, then she grew a small smile and nodded. “Thanks Dad.”

Shouta nodded. “Anytime Izumi.”

Both turned to look ahead again as they neared the large main building and soon after entered inside.

Once in the building, Hizashi said his goodbyes to the two Aizawas, who were not going to the teacher’s lounge like the blond was.

Instead, Izumi and Shouta went towards the principal’s office. Apparently, the rodent had voiced interest in meeting the girl who had killed Endeavor, and against his better judgement, Shouta allowed it, knowing that the principal would simply find another way to meet her eventually.

Izumi had been told this before leaving the apartment, and she had decided that if Shouta trusted the man enough to work under him, then she supposed she might be able to herself.

That was the only reason she was readily agreeing to meeting the principal.

After walking through the building for two or three minutes, the two Aizawas arrived at a door.

Izumi stared at it, then turned to Shouta. “Is this that Nedzu guy’s office?” She asked with a slightly raised eyebrow.

Shouta nodded as he turned to look down at her. “It is. Are you ready, or do you need a moment?” He asked. While he wasn’t a fan of wasting time, he knew that rushing Izumi of all people was the worst possible thing. Plus, she was still a child, even if she didn’t always act like it.

Izumi looked at him for a moment, then she shook her head. “Let’s just get it over with,” she answered dismissively.

Shouta nodded, then turned to the door and raised a hand to knock.

“Ah, come in Aizawas.”

Shouta let out a sigh, while Izumi blinked.

The underground hero took hold of the door handle, before pushing the door open and entering inside, with Izumi following beside him.

The door closed again as they stepped inside, but Izumi was more focused on the office space they had just entered.

It was… more homely than she had expected, and had a strangely comfortable feel to it.

Izumi wouldn’t drop her guard because of this though.

“Ah, hello Aizawa, it has been some time since last we spoke. How is the apartment?” A chipper voice asked.

Izumi’s head whipped around to the source of the voice but resisted reaching for her sword.

She blinked when she found a familiar face, one she had seen several weeks prior on the TV, sitting at the desk on the other side of the room.

Shouta nodded to the principal of UA, Nedzu. “It’s fine, thank you.” He then gestured to Izumi with his free hand. “As you seem to know, this is my daughter Izumi, also known to the public as White,” he introduced the girl with his usual tired tone.

Izumi narrowed her eyes slightly as she saw the weird rodent-like creature turn it’s eyes on her, and her free hand subconsciously inched towards her sword. “Hey,” she greeted simply.

The principal held a chipper smile as he raised a paw. “Greetings young Aizawa, I am Nedzu, the principal of UA University. You are likely wondering, am I a mouse, a dog, a bear? The mo-”

“What I’m wondering now is why the hell you’re running your mouth trying to guess what I’m thinking, and I wasn’t wondering what you are, I was wondering how the hell you can talk and are the principal of a school for humans,” Izumi said as she suddenly interrupted the principal while her eyes narrowed slightly further.

Nedzu paused as his smile faltered slightly. “Ah… Well, I suppose I cannot always be correct when guessing someone’s thought process.” The principal’s smile recovered. “Regardless, it is a pleasure to meet you young Aizawa. I have been quite interested in meeting you since the raid, but of course, due to several reasons I have not, as such I am very pleased that you agreed to meet me today before going with your father to class.” The rodent had his paws folded as he leaned on his desk.

Izumi kept her eyes narrowed while staring at the rodent. “Why? What’s so interesting about me? Is it because I was kidnapped and intended to become a weapon to kill the number one hero, but instead killed the second?” She asked with a clearly annoyed tone. She, frankly, did not like this Nedzu. He seemed arrogant in her mind by trying to guess what she was thinking, and she did not like the smile he was wearing.

Nedzu tilted his head slightly as his smile fell slightly. “No, well… yes. My, you are quite difficult to read, but you needn’t be so defensive, no harm will come to you here, I promise,” the rodent assured as he tried to put on a warm smile.

Izumi put her right hand on her sword. “Stop trying to read me and stop smiling like that, then I might calm down,” she replied with the same tone.

Nedzu’s smile faltered once more.

Shouta then raised a hand. “Sir, with all due respect, actively trying to gain her trust won’t work, and smiling almost makes it worse. The best thing you can do is be honest with her and not give her a reason to think you’re lying or threatening her,” he explained to the principal with a small frown.

Nedzu stared at his employed teacher for several moments, then let out a hum. “I see…”

His eyes returned to Izumi, who tensed up under the calculative gaze of the rodent.

Nedzu grew a small smile, a different one from the one he usually held. “Alright. Would you two like to sit, maybe have some tea?” He asked as he gestured to the two chairs in front of his desk.

Shouta turned to Izumi, as her decision was the most important at the moment. 

Izumi stared at Nedzu for a moment, but felt his demeanor was… different now, more genuine.

After thinking for a few seconds, Izumi looked up at Shouta and met his gaze. “Just for a bit, but if I don’t like it, we leave,” she decided.

Shouta looked at her for a second before giving her a nod. “Alright, that’s fine, but give him a chance. He might be a bit sneaky, but he means well.” He walked towards the desk as he spoke to his daughter.

Izumi didn’t say anything as she followed along, and once at the two chairs she sat down in the right one while Shouta sat in the left. 

Once sat down, Nedzu gestured to a pair of tea cups sitting to the side of the desk. “Would you care for a cup, young Aizawa?” He asked politely to the girl, but without his usual cheeriness. 

Izumi’s eyes trailed to the cup for a second, then went to the principal. “No thanks, not interested,” she answered bluntly, yet still with minor politeness.

Nedzu nodded in understanding, then leaned on the desk once again. “Now, I am sure you’re wondering why I wanted to see you, aren’t you?”

Izumi stared at the creature for a moment. “Probably has something to do with what I am, or what happened to me, right?” She replied gruffly.

Nedzu nodded. “Indeed, you are very intelligent as well, but I digress. Yes, the reason I wished to speak with you is indeed in relation to what you have gone through.” The principal looked Izumi in the eye with a… What was that look?

Izumi’s expression turned slightly confused. “Why are you giving me that look?” She asked, feeling strangely uncomfortable being the target of it.

She didn’t see when her father’s face gained some realisation beside her.

Nedzu let out a small chuckle. “My apologies, I… couldn’t help myself. See, I feel a sort of kinship with you. You, a young girl taken from her mother and turned into a supposed monster with multiple quirks, and I, a lab rat manipulated and tortured by humans.” The principal’s right paw traveled up to his face, where a large scar ran across his right eye.

Izumi’s eyes widened slightly.  _ ‘Wait, he was experimented on too?’ _

“Of course... You would feel kinship with her. You were just like her once.”

Izumi turned to Shouta and blinked. “He was like me?” She asked with surprise.

Shouta nodded, then pointed to the principal. “Yeah, but I don’t know the story, few people do, so it’s up to him if he wants to tell you or not,” he replied as he crossed his arms again.

Izumi looked at her father for a moment, then turned back to the principal, now with an entirely different opinion of the creature. 

_ ‘Maybe his eyes were sharp like that because he’s like me, slow to trust and wanting to know the others' thought process and if they’re going to hurt him…’ _

Nedzu’s smile had turned slightly sad while Shouta spoke. “Indeed, but while you were intended to become a weapon, the people who held me were attempting to copy my quirk artificially. I would like not to go too far into detail, but I will reveal that I was cut with scalpels without the use of anesthetics, poked with needles filled with ungodly concoctions that filled me with pain I never wish to relive, and exposed me to scenario after scenarios that would drive any person insane.” 

Izumi was in heavy surprise, not quite shocked, but she wasn’t far off.

Nedzu had been through much more than she had, and she could tell, somehow, she could tell that he was speaking the truth.

For some strange reason, she suddenly felt bad about how aggressive she had been towards the principal. He had been nice to her, and she had essentially thrown it to the side.

Izumi’s expression fell, but her brow remained furrowed, while her head lowered. “Sorry…”

Nedzu blinked. “Sorry? My dear, why are you apologising?” He asked with a slightly raised eyebrow.

Izumi kept her head low. “For… being an ass when I first came in…” She answered as she looked to the side.

The principal stared for a moment, then he grew a smile. “It is quite alright young Aizawa. I know what you’ve gone through, what All for One did to you. I completely understand you being slow to trust, it is only natural for someone in your position,” he assured with a warm tone.

Izumi kept her head low and pointed to the side for a few moments, then raised it and met the principal’s eye and gave him a nod.

Nedzu returned it, then clapped his paws. “Enough of the sad pasts, why not speak of something else? Do you have any questions you might want to ask young Aizawa?” He asked curiously as he gained some pep, but he didn’t put on the chipper facade again.

Izumi blinked, but did have a question. “How did you become the principal? You don’t…  _ feel _ like a human,” she asked curiously, but she tried to do so without sounding rude.

Nedzu hummed. “You are correct, I am not a human, but it is rather simple. Thanks to my quirk,  **High Specs** , I was able to work my way into gaining my place in this society, then I was able to earn a teaching spot at this school, then eventually became the principal. I did have some help, as you are gaining help to work your way up, and I am eternally grateful to those people, and I miss them dearly,” he recounted while his tone and expression fell slightly at the end. Those people, the ones that had helped him,  _ freed him _ , had passed away some time ago from old age.

Izumi frowned lightly and let out an acknowledging hum, having no idea of what else to say.

For a few moments silence fell on the room.

However, the sound of the bell ringing cut it short before it became suffocating.

Izumi however jumped in her seat at the sound and a moment later she used her extreme speed quirk to essentially teleport into the center of the room with her sword drawn.

Nedzu blinked as this happened, but Shouta spoke up before he could. “Calm down Izumi, it’s just the bell. It tells the students that the school day is about to begin and they need to hurry to class,” he explained to the girl with a small amused grin. 

Izumi turned to him as he spoke, then as he finished she took a moment before relaxing and sheathing her sword. “Stupid bell…” She grumbled under her breath as she walked back over to the desk.

Nedzu let out a chuckle. “I believe we should finish this for now.” He turned his eyes to Izumi as she sat back into her seat. “If you ever have any more questions you may want to ask, just ask your father to send me a message and I will answer. And if you would ever like to use one of our facilities to train then you are more than welcome to ask as well,” he added as his chipper disposition returned slightly.

Izumi blinked. “Facilities?” She asked with a confused expression and a slight tilt to her head.

Nedzu nodded, then turned to Shouta. “Perhaps you could show her around sometime during the day? I have heard that she likes to train her swordsmanship, and she is more than welcome to utilise Gym Gamma or if she so wishes,” the principal explained to the man.

Shouta raised an eyebrow, but hummed after a moment. “Thank you Nedzu, that’ll help,” he thanked with his usual slightly tired tone.

Nedzu nodded, then made a shooing motion with his paw. “Now, you best be on your way, lest you arrive late to class,” he instructed with amusement.

Both Aizawas rolled their eyes, then got out of their seats at the same time.

Once again, Izumi went up to Shouta’s right side and reached up to hold the man’s hand, which he allowed easily, then they walked towards the door.

At the door, Izumi turned to Nedzu and raised a hand. “See ya.”

Nedzu blinked, but then grew a smile and likewise raised a paw. “Goodbye young Aizawa. Enjoy your day at UA.”

Izumi nodded, then turned and left the office with her father.

* * *

The two Aizawas walked through the corridors of the main campus building in the direction of the class Shouta was supposed to be helping train today.

As they walked, Shouta turned to Izumi. “When we arrive at the class, I’ll knock on the door and we’ll enter together, then I’ll introduce you, alright? There’ll be about twenty of them, but you could probably beat most of them by yourself easily if you wanted to,” he explained to the girl with a dismissive tone.

Izumi looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. “Really? I thought they were supposed to be hero students,” she replied with a vaguely surprised tone as she turned ahead again.

Shouta let out a huff. “Not everyone has a strong combat quirk. Some have quirks that are useful in a rescue scenario, or for stealth. Not everyone can be All Might,” he explained to the girl with a slightly annoyed tone.

Izumi side eyed him for a second before looking down the hall once more as she let out a hum, but stayed quiet.

After another few seconds, a door came into view down the hall. “We’re here,” Shouta stated as he nodded to the door, once Izumi looked at him.

Izumi nodded in understanding, both continued to stay quiet as they walked the last bit of the way.

Once at the door, Shouta, just as he had said, knocked on it.

“Come in,” a voice answered from the other side of the door.

Shouta did just that and pulled the door open, then he and Izumi entered inside, and the first thing she saw was a person standing at the front and looking at her. They were wearing a mask, so she couldn’t see their face, but assumed they were another teacher, considering where they were standing behind the podium. She didn’t trust them, but was aware they wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.

As they walked in, Izumi was on the opposite side of the students from Shouta, so they didn’t fully notice her until Shouta stopped and turned, and Izumi stopped beside him.

She was a bit surprised when she did indeed find roughly twenty pairs of eyes looking at her, but she kept it hidden and resisted in reaching for her sword, but she did tighten her grip slightly on Shouta’s hand.

The man reciprocated it as he began to speak. “Morning students. You should all know me, so I won’t bother telling you my name, but this,” he gestured to Izumi, "is Izumi, my daughter. And before any of you ask, no, she’s not my biological daughter, I adopted her for reasons, which include the brat managing to break into my heart,” he explained as his tone turned annoyed during the end.

Izumi looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, then she grew a grin. “You’re just weak, old man.”

Shouta turned and narrowed his eyes at her. “I am not, shut it brat.” It was fake, Izumi knew it, but the students didn’t.

Izumi giggled at his response, then moved to tilt back and forth on her feet. “Whatever you say Dad.”

Shouta rolled his eyes but said nothing as he turned to the teacher, who Shouta knew as Snipe. “Get it going already Snipe,” he grumbled to the masked man. He was beginning to regret allowing Izumi to come along.

Snipe sweatdropped behind his mask. This was the first time he was seeing Izumi, the girl who, according to Hizashi and Nedzu, was the one who killed Endeavor almost a year ago. 

But he pulled himself together quickly and turned to his students, while the two Aizawas stood off to the side. “Alright students, as I told you yesterday, today you’re going to be learning how to deal with a villain when you can’t use your quirk, in this case because you’re fighting someone with an erasure quirk,” he explained to the students, who quickly turned their attention back to their teacher as he spoke, but continued to glance towards Izumi on occasion.

Snipe gestured to Shouta. “You’re all going to be trying to spar with Aizawa one by one while he uses his quirk on you like he normally would a villain, but I can’t promise he’ll go easy on you. Therefore, you all need to make sure you listen and learn, so you can be ready for anything you might come across in the future.” It was paramount that these students learn how to fight against people like Shouta. Heroes had a terrible tendency to rely on their quirks, but against someone like Eraserhead himself, non mutant quirks were useless.

The students seemed to realise this as they nodded with serious and determined expressions.

Shouta was silently approving of what he was seeing, and was hoping this meant they were all logical people.

Izumi wasn’t sure of what all this entailed, but she recognised the word ‘spar’, and realised that the man, who her dad called Snipe, wanted the students to fight Shouta.

She wasn’t worried however, she knew from experience that Shouta was strong, especially when fighting against a single person.

She watched as Snipe looked over the students one final time. “Go put on your costumes, then meet us at Ground Alpha. You’ll be told more there,” he instructed as he brought up a small remote and pressed a button, causing several racks to extend out of the wall with a small hiss.

“Yes sir,” the class answered, then they all stood up and went to collect a case from the racks.

Izumi watched them do this with curiosity, but as she did she felt a small tug on the arm holding Shouta’s hand, and she turned to look at the man.

His eyes met hers. “Come on, let’s go to Ground Alpha. We can spar for a bit before the students get there if you want, it’ll get me warmed up too,” he instructed the girl, while throwing in a sweet reason for her to follow with him.

Snipe and the students still in the classroom turned to Shouta and gave him surprised but incredulous expressions. “What? Aizawa, she’s, what, eleven? And you-“

Shouta cut off Snipe before he managed to say anything that would make Izumi angry. “I’m strict, not stupid. If she really wanted to, Izumi could take me down right now, as well as everyone else here.” His eyes turned to the students still in the class, who were now staring with wide eyes. “Remember that before you make her angry, and it’s not very hard to do so. Keep your distance unless she approaches you and you’ll be fine,” he instructed the students. Scare tactics were his usual MO when teaching students, but usually it was a ‘logical ruse’. This was not a ruse.

The students seemed to get nervous at this, and slowly their eyes went down to Izumi.

The girl was staring at them blankly.

But then, slowly, a grin spread across her face.

Shivers went up all the students’ spines. 

The grin was threatening, almost predatory in a way.

They wasted no more time in hurrying to the changing rooms, where they would share what they had been told with those who hadn’t been in the room.

As the last student quite literally ran out of the room, Izumi couldn’t contain herself anymore and fell into a fit of giggles. “They were so scared!” She managed to exclaim between giggles.

Shouta wore an amused grin as he looked down at her. “That’ll teach them not to judge a book by its cover. Now come on, let’s get there so we can do at least a bit of sparing.” He began to walk towards the door as he spoke, while guiding a still giggling Izumi along.

As they walked out, they left a shell shocked Snipe behind.

“What the hell is happening...” He questioned aloud with shock.

* * *

The two Aizawas arrived at Ground Alpha quickly.

Ground Alpha was a very simple dirt area, used for training rural hand to hand combat, as well as being used for exercises that couldn't be held on the P.E area.

Izumi looked around for a moment, then looked up at Shouta. “Is this Ground Alpha?” She asked with a slightly unimpressed tone.

Shouta gave her a shrug. “I know it doesn’t seem like much, but it’s still an important part of what we teach here at the school.” He then let go of her hand and stopped beside her, making Izumi do the same. “Now let’s get to it. No using your sword, and keep your super strength on the low side. I don’t need to be dealing with fractured bones while I teach the students,” he instructed the girl with his usual tired and seemingly uncaring tone.

Izumi nodded in understanding. It was the same the last couple times she had sparred with him, and she knew very well that it wouldn’t be fun to simply beat him in an instant with her super strength or sword.

She was, however, still allowed to use her super speed, but she rarely used it, because once again she didn’t think it was fun.

Shouta nodded then he took a few steps backwards.

Izumi did the same, but neither of them broke eye contact, while the atmosphere around them began to turn tense.

They both stopped when they had about fifteen meters between them.

Shouta fell into his combat stance while grabbing his capture weapon.

Izumi stood straight, but her arms did reach out ever so slightly, ready to react to any kind of attack that may come.

The two stared at each other, not noticing as Snipe arrived but stayed quiet while watching the stand off between the two.

Then, they moved at once.

Shouta rushed forwards with speed he had acquired over years of being an underground hero, while Izumi ran forwards with increased speed of her own, faster than Shouta’s.

The two met in less than three seconds and began with Shouta throwing a fist towards Izumi’s face.

Izumi dodged it with ease, then moved to raise a leg for a kick towards his leg.

Shouta swiftly used his capture weapon to catch her leg, then swept her other leg out from under her.

Izumi wasn’t surprised, it was going almost exactly the same as the first time they had sparred, but unlike the first time, this time she knew how to continue.

The girl brought a hand down to the ground, then pivoted herself into a one handed handstand.

She grinned at Shouta as they met eyes for a moment, then she kicked forwards with her free leg, the one Shouta had kicked out from under her, and aimed for his head.

The man reacted how she wanted, pulling back and inadvertently giving her an opportunity to get her other leg free, allowing her to push herself back to her feet and retreat back a bit.

They both stopped and entered another stare off for a few seconds, then Izumi ran forwards again.

This time she ran a bit faster, while going lower against the ground, making her a difficult target for Shouta to hit if he tried to use his scarf.

But instead of running straight at him, she ran around him in a counterclockwise circle.

Shouta didn’t know what she was planning, but was staying vigilant. He was unlikely to be able to catch her if she continued to run this way, and he didn’t want to risk having her catch his scarf, which she had done once during sparring, and since then he had been extra vigilant with his scarf.

Izumi continued to run around Shouta for a few seconds, while the man did his best to follow her. Then, during a moment where he turned his head to continue following her as she went behind him, Izumi stopped abruptly and ran at the man’s back.

It took Shouta a moment to realise what she was doing, but when he did he turned around, only to find a small fist in his face.

The sound of Izumi’s fist hitting the underground hero’s face rang through the area, but it wasn’t loud, and the teacher was thrown onto his back.

As he fell, Izumi wasted no time in jumping on his stomach and grabbing his collar, pulling him up and rearing back a fist. 

The two stared at each other for a moment, then Izumi’s serious face gained a grin. “Looks like I win today Dad.”

Shouta narrowed his eyes at her, but he couldn’t say no. She had outsmarted him for a moment, as she typically did, but he would know this trick for next time. One might wonder why he wasn’t attacking her while she was right there, but the answer was that she was just too slippery, and had escaped the first few times he had tried, until he concluded he couldn’t catch her like that.

He let out a sigh. “Yeah yeah… You got me,” he grumbled as he pushed himself up from the ground, despite Izumi sitting on his chest. She wasn’t that heavy and she was rather short, while he was stronger than he looked.

Izumi slid down onto her back and landed in Shouta’s lap. “That was fun, but a bit short. Are you distracted?” She asked casually as she looked up at him from his lap.

Shouta looked down at her with his usual tired expression. “No, you just used a trick I wasn’t expecting at the time,” he answered dismissively.

Izumi let out a giggle. “Sure you weren’t, you just can’t admit I was better,” she replied teasingly with a grin.

Shouta narrowed his eyes, then without a word tipped her off his lap and face down onto the ground.

Izumi let out a surprised yelp as he did this, but managed to catch herself before face planting in the dirt.

She turned a moment later and gave him a glare. “Ass.”

Shouta turned to her with a deadpan expression. “Brat.”

They stared at each other for a moment, then they both grew smiles.

“Aizawa-”

Izumi and Shouta turned in unison upon hearing their family name, and they saw Snipe standing off to the side, still alone. “What?” Both of them asked in unison, with the same slightly annoyed tone.

Snipe visibly paused for a moment at this, but didn’t comment when he continued a few seconds later. “Um, Eraser, did you let her-”

Shouta rolled his eyes, causing the masked hero to pause. “I told you in the classroom that she could easily beat me if she wanted to, as well as you. She wasn’t even close to going all out, but she thinks it’s boring to go all out, plus I don’t want her to hit me with her super strength, because that’ll literally break my bones,” he explained to his coworker as he pushed himself to his feet, with Izumi wordlessly doing the same beside him.

Snipe stared at Shouta for a few moments. “So, they were serious when they said she’s… you know…” He trailed off as he looked around, not wanting to say the name aloud if the students could hear.

Izumi rolled her eyes this time. “Yeah, I’m White, and yes, if I wanted to, I could kill you right now,” she answered bluntly and easily.

Snipe visibly seized up at this blunt and direct claim from the girl, but it disappeared when Shouta raised a hand and chopped Izumi on the head. “Izumi, stop that. We’ve already talked about saying things to scare others,” he admonished lightly, though still with his tired voice, which made it lose a bit of it’s impact.

Izumi rubbed the top of her head slightly while giving the man an angry pout, then she let out a huff. “Whatever, he’s a hero, he should be able to take stuff like that…” She grumbled under her breath as she turned away.

Shouta looked at her for a moment, then shrugged. “I can agree with that, normally, but you’re not even a teenager yet, so hearing that from a young girl like you is pretty shocking. Even I would probably pause for a moment if I met someone like you without having known you first. I’m used to it at this point,” he explained to the girl while resting his arms on his bent knees and looking off into the distance.

Izumi turned to him as he spoke but remained quiet during his speech, then once he was finished she simply stared at him for a moment.

After staring at Shouta for several seconds, she turned to look at Snipe.

The man visibly tensed up slightly under her scrutinising gaze, but calmed when she looked away another few seconds later. “I’m messed up…” She decided quietly as her expression turned to a mix of anger and sadness, while staring at the ground.

She stared at the ground for a short few moments, then felt a hand land on her head. “Izumi, can you look at me, please?” Shouta’s voice asked.

Izumi paused for a moment. She hadn’t heard him say please before. It was… strange, but also compelled her to do as asked.

She raised her head and looked at her father, only to be confused when everything was blurry, having not noticed it before.

It took Izumi longer than she would ever admit to realise that she was  _ crying _ .

The second she did, she quickly looked away from Shouta and began trying to desperately dry away the tears with her sleeves, but the tears kept coming.

She hadn’t noticed that Shouta’s expression had saddened when he saw the tears silently streaming down her face.

He looked around for a moment, and saw that none of the students were there, or approaching them yet.

For once he was happy for the students being slow.

He inched closer to Izumi, then wrapped his arms around the girl and hoisted her up into his lap.

Izumi let out a small surprised squeak, but didn’t fight him, likely from the fact she was too focused on trying to stop crying.

She looked up at him through tear filled eyes, and for the first time, Shouta felt that she looked…  _ vulnerable _ .

He gave her a soft smile as he reached up with his free hand and used his thumb to dry away a few tears. “You’re not messed up, messed up is some of the villains I’ve fought with in the past, and you’re nothing like them.” His tone was nothing more than soft as he looked down at her, and she looked back up at him through lingering tears.

Shouta then turned to look up at the sky. “You might not think it, but I can put myself in your place. I was called all sorts of things by my  _ ‘parents’ _ , when I was your age. I was hit by them, called names, including monster. For a long time, I thought I was messed up too, that I was somehow wrong for some reason.” His tone as he said the word ‘parents’ was filled with venom, but it was only for a split second.

He looked down at Izumi again and gave her a small grin. “But I never let it stop me. I still tried to be a hero, and I succeeded eventually. I got into the hero course here at UA by winning the Sports Festival.” His tone held a bit of glee as he said this.

Then his expression softened again. “And then I got into the same class as Hizashi and Nemuri. I tried to push them away, to distance myself, like you do, but… those two are stubborn, and they managed to get past my walls and into my heart. They helped me realise that I’m not the one who’s messed up, it was my parents, and I, as well as them, will help you realise that you aren’t messed up either.” 

He pulled the girl close and held her head against his chest. “Listen, I’m not the best at this heart to heart stuff, but I care about you, otherwise I wouldn’t have adopted you. If I thought anything was wrong with you, then I would’ve helped you change, and if I couldn’t then Hizashi would have, or Nemuri, just like they helped me. You’re not alone in this world Izumi, remember that.”

Izumi was stunned. Thoroughly, and completely shocked.

She had never expected a speech such as the one she had gotten from the man, nor the words he had spoken.

He had been in a similar situation? He had been treated badly? But how? And why?

Her mind was swimming with many thoughts, both about herself and her father.

It took many long moments before any of the thoughts made it to the forefront of her mind, and she looked up at him, still with tears clinging to her eyes. “You were hurt too?” She asked with a slightly surprised, but still emotional tone.

Shouta nodded to the girl. “I was. I was hurt a lot. They hit me and yelled at me, my dad especially. I think he was jealous that my quirk came out better than his own, but I never got the chance to find out,” he explained to the girl. Honesty was best with Izumi, even if it involved potentially scarring details. He knew Izumi would be able to handle it though.

Izumi stared up at her father, still in shock.

But the shock began to let way to something else as she thought about what had been done to the man who had shown her such kindness, helped her get out, helped her get  _ free _ .

It let way to anger, and it quickly showed on her face. “ _ If I ever see them, I’ll kill them, _ ” she growled out with heavy fury while a deep scowl was on her face.

Shouta raised an eyebrow, but after a second shook his head. “They’re not worth it Izumi, and even if they were, they died years ago from overdosing on drugs,” he explained simply to the girl. While he appreciated Izumi’s protectiveness of him, knowing that it meant she cared for him, he didn’t want her to soil her hands with blood, even if the people she would be doing it to were terrible people.

Izumi’s anger visibly died down, before she let out a small growl. “Damn it… Fine, but I still hate them…” She grumbled as she looked away to the side.

Shouta let out a huff. “That’s fine, but they’re not worth anymore thought. I don’t think about them, because I have better than them now, and that includes you.” He grew a smile and raised a hand to ruffle Izumi’s hair.

Izumi turned back to him with slightly wide eyes, but after a few seconds she gained a small blush and pouted. “Meanie… Thanks...” She grumbled out as she gave him a light punch on the chest, which there was absolutely no power behind.

Shouta let out a chuckle, but said nothing as he raised his head.

He paused when he found that a few students had arrived and were watching him and Izumi beside Snipe.

He turned his glare to maximum, while using his quirk. “Tell no one what you saw and heard, or I’ll expel you, understood?” He warned with a heavily dangerous tone.

The students immediately froze as fear entered their system, but they managed to quickly nod in understanding as they began to tremble. Shouta’s ability to intimidate was strong, and they all knew he wasn’t afraid to expel students if he felt it was justified.

Shouta kept his glare on them for a few moments longer, then stopped using it and turned back to Izumi. “Come on, let’s get up. The students are beginning to arrive,” he instructed the girl while patting her head.

Izumi, who had watched as he glared at the students, which she found quite awe inspiring as someone who also liked to intimidate others, didn’t hesitate as she hopped to her feet. “Whatever, but thanks for the pep talk Dad,” she thanked with a slightly dismissive tone, but it was fake. She appreciated what he had said to her, it had made her feel better about herself after all.

Shouta knew her tone was fake, and as he stood up he patted her head again. “Anytime.” He then turned his eyes to Snipe. “I’ll go give her something to do while you wait for the rest of the students, and when they get here just start even if I haven’t come back, got it?” He instructed the hero teacher.

Snipe, who had calmed down at this point after watching the heart to heart between the father and daughter, nodded in understanding. “Alright, I’ll do that.” He then turned to students and began to gather them up.

Shouta didn’t listen when the man began to speak and instead looked down at Izumi. “Come on, let’s find something for you to do while I deal with the students.” He pointed a bit further down the field, closer to a line of trees, which was the line between Ground Alpha and Ground Omega, which was a heavily wooded area used for forest training.

Izumi nodded wordlessly and followed him as he turned and began to walk away.

Once near the tree line, Shouta stopped and turned to Izumi. “Alright, so long as you stay in this area and don’t cause too much damage, you can do what you want. Just be careful, alright?” He instructed the girl, while gesturing to the area and the tree line.

Izumi looked up at him for a moment, then looked around. “Anything? Does that mean I can see what All for One gave me then?” She asked curiously with a raised eyebrow as she looked back at him.

Shouta stared down at her for a few moments, then let out a sigh. “Better here I guess… Just be careful, and shout for me if something goes wrong, okay? I don’t want you to get hurt because of some surprise super power he’s given to you,” he answered while giving her a small unhappy frown. He wasn’t unhappy with her, just unhappy with the idea of her getting hurt.

Izumi looked at him for another moment, then she smiled, a genuine smile, not the grins she usually gave. “I’ll be careful Dad,” she answered with an honest tone.

Shouta stared at her with a slightly scrutinising gaze for a moment, then nodded as he decided she was being genuinely honest. “Good. I’ll come back when I’m finished. See you in a bit.” He began to walk away as he said this, but paused to ruffle her hair for a moment before continuing again.

Izumi watched him as he left. It would be strange to be by herself, for several reasons.

One reason was the fact he was supposed to be near her.

If she wanted to, she could just run, but she would be tracked down thanks to the chip still in her neck. She occasionally wondered if she would ever get it removed, but assumed that if she gave them a reason to then they would.

Izumi turned back to the area and looked around for a moment. “Now, what to start with…”

She unsheathed her sword and moved to hold it in both hands, her right on the handle and the left the blade.

She had never said it, as she wanted to keep her abilities a secret so those around her couldn’t come up with counters for her, but while she knew what her quirks were, she didn’t know about a sword.

She had always felt a connection to it, and she had genuinely panicked when it wasn’t with her when she awoke in her holding cell, but she didn’t know  _ why _ she had it, nor the connection.

Izumi looked down to the ground, which had some loose rocks around the area, and after a moment her eyes began to glow dark green with a black rim as she activated her Psychokinesis quirk.

The rocks around the ground began to float into the air, then slowly swirled around. “I know this is a quirk…” Her eyes went back to her sword and stopped glowing, while her brow furrowed. “But why don’t I know about you?”

She raised the sword up while narrowing her eyes at the blade. Either parts of what had been programmed in her had been lost when she rebelled, or, something else was going on.

Izumi turned the blade so she was looking at its side, while thinking for another few moments.

She then brought the blade forward again and raised it above her head, then brought it down.

A small burst of wind went out as she swung the sword, but Izumi seemed unsatisfied. “Why did you appear when I changed into this form? Something happened, I know that, but I don’t know why…” She mumbled to herself as she brought her left hand to her chin while going back to staring at the sword.

But, her mind was cut off as something black out of the corner of her eye caught her attention, and her head swiftly turned to the side.

She blinked when she found a near pitch black butterfly in front of her face. “A black butterfly?” She questioned aloud as her brow furrowed.

The butterfly continued to float in front of her face for a moment, then it turned and floated over to her sword, while the girl’s eyes followed it.

The butterfly landed on her sword for a moment and Izumi continued to stare, being slightly confused by the animal's sudden appearance, and it’s physical appearance.

A moment later, the butterfly took flight again, but went to Izumi’s face again.

Izumi was now curious. The butterfly was acting strangely, almost friendly. It was also larger than the butterflies she had read about that lived in Japan.

She raised her free hand up and extended a finger for it to land on, and was surprised when it landed almost instantly, as if it had been waiting for her to do it.

Almost the second it touched her finger, she felt a tingle in the limb, but… it didn’t feel wrong, and she didn’t flinch away.

She brought the creature close and stared into it’s black eyes. “You’re a weird little one…” She noted with a scrutinising gaze as she looked it over slightly.

Suddenly, a strange feeling enveloped her, as if… 

Before she could think about it, something entered her mind.

_ ‘Spiritual Power? What the hell? Where is this coming from?’ _ Izumi was confused. Knowledge and information was suddenly going into her mind, and it didn’t feel like she was remembering it, it was new.

It stopped after a bit, and Izumi was left with questions, and no answers.

But after a moment of thought, she remembered something, and her eyes returned to the butterfly.

When it had landed on her finger, she had felt a strange feeling in it, but had thought nothing of it.

Izumi’s expression hardened and she narrowed her eyes at the butterfly. “You’re not normal. What are you?...” She asked aloud as she scrutinised it more thoroughly.

She didn’t have long, as a moment later it took off from her finger, then began to travel away from her, almost with purpose.

Izumi was momentarily caught off guard, but annoyance grew in her quickly. “Hey! Get the hell back here!” She exclaimed as she moved to follow it.

She made it about fifteen steps, with her eyes focused entirely on the butterfly, before something stopped her in her tracks.

Suddenly, something filled the air, an oppressive feeling of power, something that shook her to her very core.

Her eyes went wide as she stopped dead in her tracks, then began to look around. “What the fuck? What is that?” She wondered as a minor bit of fear entered her. The power in the air was more threatening than anything she believed she had felt before. Even the air of strength around All Might was nothing in comparison, it wasn’t even the same kind of power.

As she looked around, something caught her eye.

Standing near the treeline, in the direction the butterfly had been going, was a figure.

From what she could see, they were wearing a black outfit of some kind and had orange hair, and if she was seeing right, then she could see the hilt of a sword over their shoulder.

For some strange reason, Izumi knew, just  _ knew _ , the feeling of intense power was coming from this person, and every warning signal in her mind suddenly went off, and they did so intensely.

Izumi brought her sword in front of her and against her usual style took hold with both hands, which were both shaking from fear.

She wasn’t completely sure, but she was fairly certain the person was staring at her, but they made no move.

Then, the butterfly got to the figure and they raised a hand, where the butterfly landed, then the figure turned back to Izumi again, making her tense up, before turning, and walking away into the forest.

As they did, the intense feeling of power in the air disappeared suddenly.

All the tension in Izumi’s frame disappeared suddenly, and her legs collapsed from under her, causing her to fall to the ground while taking deep, almost panicked breaths.

“W-What the h-hell w-was that?” She asked aloud with panicked stutters. She had been shaken deeply by what had just happened.

For several minutes, Izumi simply sat on the ground as she tried to recollect herself and calm her breathing. 

She succeeded eventually, and as she did, she looked at the treeline. “Who the hell was that? That butterfly… went to them, did they do something to it, and to me?” She wondered aloud as she kept staring in the same direction.

Izumi had conflicting feelings. The figure she had seen was almost definitely not All for One, they would have simply come and gotten her if they were, but… she had a feeling they weren't from UA either.

That meant they were an unknown. A powerful unknown, that scared even her.

She didn’t like it, not one bit.

But… She recalled what she had learned, the… strange knowledge that had been imparted to her by, she assumed, the butterfly.

Her eyes fell to her lap, where her hands were resting. “Spiritual Power… Spiritual Pressure…”

Her eyes travelled to her sword, which was laying on the ground beside her.

After a moment of staring, her right hand raised from her lap, and went over to her sword grip, and took hold.

She brought the sword over and placed it in her lap, while placing her left hand halfway down the blade.

As she did, she closed her eyes, and began to focus.

There was no point in dwelling over the figure she had seen, at least not at this point, nor what had happened with the butterfly.

What she did know, was that along with the knowledge she had been given, a few images had come with it.

The image of a blue haired figure, who was wearing an open white outfit and had what appeared to be a bonelike jaw piece on his right cheek with sharp teeth.

But what caught her attention the most was the hole in his abdomen, the one that looked strikingly like the one just above her chest, and the sword in the figure's own hand.

A short scene of the man holding out his hand, in which a blue orb began to grow, then a moment later seemed to fire into a beam of blue.

The final image was of the man holding his sword in a stance of some sort, then the sword began to glow as he seemed to say something, but she had no idea what as there was no sound to go with the image, then the man became shrouded in a pillar of dust, which disappeared soon after to reveal the figure, but looking different and without his sword, but… familiar, at the same time.

So much about this figure felt familiar to herself, and she wondered if, maybe, just maybe, she could do some of what she had seen this figure do.

Then she realised. The figure’s other form.

It was like how she went from her form with wings to her current one, but in reverse. She had gained her sword after becoming what she was now, but this person had done the opposite by themself.

Did that mean she could do the same?

_ ‘Spiritual Power, and Spiritual Pressure… Is there more to this world than just quirks? Could… Could what I felt from the guy have been this Spiritual Pressure stuff?’ _

Many questions, no answers, at least not yet.

Izumi’s brow furrowed as she grew frustrated and opened her eyes to look down at her sword.

“Can I do all that too? He has the hole in his body, and the sword, like me…” Her hand travelled up to just above her chest, where the hole in her body was.

She remained quiet for several moments, then raised her head and looked ahead, to where the figure had been. 

“Alright, I’ll bite. Let’s see what this is about fucker,” she decided as she got to her feet.

She brought her sword into both of her hands and held it straight, then closed her eyes and began to focus. While it may not be the best idea, she was referring to what movies and anime she had seen about people learning to use an unknown power.

Izumi stayed like this for several hours, trying to get something, anything to happen.

She was pulled out of it eventually when Shouta came over and ushered her off for lunch in the teacher’s lounge.

As they walked, Izumi mentioned what had happened, but began it with asking him to please keep it to himself. And yes, she did say ‘please’, which was incentive enough for Shouta to keep it quiet.

Shouta was however not happy to hear that someone had somehow made it on campus, and asked to involve Nedzu, if only to make sure the school’s security hadn’t been compromised.

Izumi reluctantly agreed, and after a slightly tense lunch for Izumi, because she was surrounded by adults she didn’t recognise, and one she did recognise and still wasn’t fond of, aka Nemuri, her and Shouta went to the principal’s office and explained briefly what had happened and to please keep it quiet.

Nedzu immediately pulled up the camera footage from that area.

Imagine their confusion when all they could see was Izumi looking around slowly, as if visually following something, then raise her finger for a moment, then looking away before running in the direction she had looked, then stop shortly thereafter and becoming visibly frightened, then collapse to the ground after a long few seconds.

Confusion ran between them, but it was clear from the way Izumi had acted that  _ something _ had happened, and frightening Izumi was no small feat. She had stared down a villain several times larger than herself once while out with Shouta to buy clothes for her as he tried to rob the store the two were in.

Nedzu promised to quietly increase security on campus and that whenever Izumi was present to keep her on camera at all time, in case something like it happened again.

Izumi was slightly surprised that they weren’t immediately writing her off as going insane or something of the like, but Nedzu answered that he could tell she was completely sane, and that clearly this was not a simple case of her seeing something.

Izumi accepted it, and reluctantly thanked the principal as her and Shouta left not long after.

The two Aizawas then went around to the different nearby facilities on campus, where Shouta would give a brief explanation of what they used the facilities for and what not.

Once they were finished with that, the two left for home, once Hizashi was finished with work, of course.

As they left, Izumi’s mind was plagued with thoughts, and mounting ideas.

She would take up the principal on his offer, and return to UA. She had to.


	13. Tool of the Bell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> October 17th. Chapter 1/1.
> 
> Izumi goes to a different school, this time, her own.

“Speech” _‘thoughts’_ **“Phone call”**

Enjoy

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Several months went by after Izumi’s first visit to UA, and she had many more trips as the months went by.

Eventually, around half a year after the first visit, they actually moved into the teacher’s dorm on campus. 

Apparently the apartment had been a short term thing while Izumi became accustomed to meeting new people and that the plan had always been to return to the campus. 

When they did, Izumi came to discover that Shouta owned cats that had not been allowed into the apartment off campus and had instead been left at the dorm and were taken care of by the UA teachers.

Izumi fell in love with the cats almost immediately, and they loved her in return, even Kuro, who was apparently very slow to trust new people, according to Shouta.

This was how Izumi came to live on UA campus for the remaining three months before she began at school.

* * *

Izumi pulled at the collar of her new school uniform. “This damn uniform is so stuffy,” she grumbled annoyedly as she walked beside her adoptive father. Her school uniform consisted of a light brown jacket and white button up shirt underneath, with a blue and light blue striped tie, as well as dark blue skirt.

Shouta rolled his eyes. “I know, but you don’t have a choice. Just loosen the tie once you get past introductions,” he replied with his usual tired tone.

They had arrived at Izumi’s new school just moments ago.

Which school, might you ask?

Somei Private Academy.

It had been easy to get Izumi into the school, with having both All Might and Nedzu vouch for her, which had resulted in the Commission reluctantly having to agree to it, but only because the school had one of the best student track records in the country and were very good at helping students in similar situations as Izumi.

Shouta was there to take her to the principal of the school in order to have a small meeting to go over some things before she got to class, if it was needed.

They had arrived roughly twenty minutes before largely everyone else would begin to arrive, to give them time in case it was a long meeting for whatever reason.

They continued into the school in silence and towards the principal’s office. As they went, Izumi looked around at her surroundings. She knew now that not everyone around her was out to attack her, well, she had known that all along, but now she didn’t immediately go defensive.

It didn’t take long until they arrived at the principal’s office and Shouta knocked on the door.

“Come in,” came the answer from inside.

Shouta opened the door and entered inside, and Izumi followed behind him into the office.

The girl’s eyes travelled around the office while Shouta turned to the principal, who was sitting at her desk, and gave her a nod. “Morning Ma’am,” he greeted the woman politely.

Izumi turned to the principal as she heard her father greet him, and for a moment took in her appearance.

She seemed like a slightly older woman. Her hair was starting to become grey, and there were a few wrinkles on her cheeks, but only a very few.

The woman smiled at the two. “Ah, good morning mister Aizawa. It’s a pleasure to see you again,” she greeted as she stood up from her chair and reached a hand forward for the man to shake.

Shouta walked up and shook her hand, then gestured behind him. “This is my daughter Izumi, or as we told you, White,” he introduced the principal blankly.

They had let the principal in on the fact Izumi was White for several reasons, but the biggest was the fact that if they knew who she was, they would know how big of a deal it was  _ not _ to let her get truly pissed off.

The principal had taken it in surprising stride. Apparently it wasn’t unusual for students with dangerous quirks or mental states to get sent to the school for rehabilitation.

The principal’s eyes turned to Izumi, who blankly looked back at the woman. “Hey,” she greeted simply and dismissively.

The woman smiled at Izumi. “Hello there, my name is Yasuko Kawakubo, I’m the principal of this school. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she greeted warmly.

Izumi nodded to her, but said nothing else.

The principal was unperturbed by this and gestured for the two to sit at the chairs in front of her desk. “Please, have a seat and I’ll answer any questions you might have.”

Shouta and Izumi did just that and settled down in the chairs, then focused on the woman.

Yasuko looked between the two. “Before we fully begin, I want to assure you both that while Izumi is here she will experience no bullying or attempts at causing her harm. We have a strict no bullying policy, and any who do it will be expelled effective immediately if they’re found to be doing it. Just report it to a teacher and they will tell me, then I’ll continue from there,” she explained while giving Izumi a reassuring smile.

Izumi had become less immediately distrustful of smiles, but it still did little to make her feel better about the woman, but she did appreciate the reassurance about bullying, and she herself had no intention of doing anything of the sort. She may like fighting, but belittling those ‘weaker’ than herself didn’t bring her any joy. And it wasn’t like she could be bullied anyway.

Both of them nodded in understanding. “Thank you Ma’am, that’s reassuring to know,” Shouta thanked, still with the blank tone, but there was a bit of politeness in it.

Yasuko nodded in return, then folded her hands and rested on the desk. “Now, shall I answer your questions?” She asked as she gained an expectant expression.

Shouta turned to Izumi, and she turned to him.

Shouta nodded towards the principal. He was already satisfied with what he had heard and seen while looking to make sure the school was good for his daughter.

Izumi understood his meaning, and turned back to the principal. “Where will I sit?” She asked very directly.

The principal hummed. “Wherever you want, but I thought you would enjoy the back of the class the most, since it lets you have a view of everyone at once, is this fine?” She asked as she answered the question.

Izumi looked at the principal for a moment, then she nodded. “I like that. Good. What about breaks? Do I have to mingle with the others?” She asked as she frowned lightly.

Shouta wanted to interject at this question, but Yasuko spoke first. “You don’t have to, and you can go where you want on campus so long as you’re in class in time for the next lesson, but I think you would have a better time if you at least tried to get along with your classmates, but I won’t force you to, I know that won’t help,” she answered with warm tone, but there was a small sad smile on her face as she answered.

Izumi stared at the woman for a moment, then she let out a small hum. “If I don’t like them then I won’t have anything to do with them. What about lunch? Do I have to eat in a stuffy cafeteria like I’ve heard?” She asked further.

The principal looked for a moment, then she let out a hum. “Again, I think you should try, but I’ll allow you to take your food outside if you want, but you have to make it in time for classes each time,” she decided after a moment, though she seemed to not like this idea.

Izumi gained a grin. “Alright. I don’t have anything else then,” she decided. These points had been the only she had on her mind. She didn’t want to have to be around large amounts of people, and therefore was happy with the result she had received.

Yasuko raised an eyebrow. “Really? Nothing more?” She asked curiously. She had been expecting more questions, from what she had heard about Izumi.

Izumi shook her head as she leaned back in her seat. “No. Dad’s kept me informed about what he’s found out about the school, so I’m fine with it, for now,” she answered simply and blankly to the woman.

Yasuko blinked at Izumi for a moment, then she grew a smile. “Well then, in that case it makes everything much simpler. Does that mean neither of you have any more questions?” She looked between the two as she asked this.

Both shook their heads, to which the principal clapped her hands. “Excellent, then why don’t we go to the teacher’s lounge now? It will give you the opportunity to meet your teachers ahead of time, how does this sound Izumi?” She asked chipperly as she looked at Izumi specifically.

Izumi frowned lightly at her chipperness, it reminded her too much of the front Nedzu had put up, but hers felt slightly different, more genuine.

She shrugged after a moment. “Whatever, might as well,” she decided dismissively.

Yasuko nodded, then stood up. “Then let’s go while we still have time. Follow me please.” The principal stood up and made her way to the door as she spoke.

Izumi and Shouta looked at her for a moment, then they both got to their feet and followed after the principal.

They left the office and walked through the corridors of the school, and as they did, Izumi looked out the window and could see some students were arriving already, but not many.

She narrowed her eyes slightly at them, before turning ahead again.

* * *

It wasn’t anymore than a minute before Yasuko stopped in front of a door. “Here we are,” she said as she took hold of the handle, then pushed the door open.

Shouta followed inside, but Izumi stopped for a moment and watched them enter, then entered herself. 

“Good morning everyone. As you all know, we have a new student starting today and we finished our small impromptu morning meeting early, so I thought it would be a good idea to come here and introduce you all to her.” Yasuko looked around at the teachers sitting in the teacher’s lounge as she spoke and gained their attention.

All the teachers had been informed about Izumi, and her identity as White, but just as with the principal herself, they took it in stride and were even happy to be able to help the girl become ready for the wider world. They had all sympathised with White’s position and didn’t blame her for Endeavor’s death.

Yasuko gestured to Izumi, who was standing beside Shouta. “This is Izumi Aizawa. Izumi, these are the teachers working here at Somei Academy.” She gestured to the teachers as she spoke to the girl.

Izumi looked around at the teachers, who were all looking back at her with warm smiles.

It made her somewhat uncomfortable and unnerved, but she didn’t show it as she gave the teachers an acknowledging nod.

Yasuko went on to gesture to one teacher in particular. “This is your homeroom teacher, Eisen Kisugi.”

The teacher she introduced gave Izumi a wave. “Hello there Aizawa, it’s nice to meet you. I hope you’ll enjoy your time in my class,” he greeted warmly.

Izumi looked at the man for a moment, then gave him a small shrug. “We’ll see.”

The man kept his smile and didn’t react to her dismissive tone.

Yasuko then introduced Izumi to the other teachers she would see during the week, from Math to P.E.

After the introductions, Shouta made some minor conversation with Izumi’s homeroom and P.E teachers about some things concerning Izumi, but Izumi herself was standing against the wall and using her phone.

She had been gifted a smartphone for her twelfth birthday, which had been a small and not very worth mentioning day, despite having been the first one in her new life, but Shouta, Hizashi, Nemuri and All Might had made sure to buy her gifts and come spend the day with her.

The phone had been the gift from Shouta, who got her a cat themed case to go with it. He wanted her to have it once she began at school, in case something happened with her or him so they could communicate, and he got it then so she would have time to learn how to use it before she began at school.

Izumi was playing a rather bloody game as she stood against the wall, then the sound of the first bell ringing sounded through the room, making her blink. She had thankfully gotten used to the sound of the bell while living at UA, as the sound also rang in the dorms, for some strange reason.

Yasuko let out a hum. “Ah, the first bell. I guess we should all go on our way,” she turned to Izumi and gave her a smile. “I need to get back to my office. I hope you have a good first day.” She gave Izumi a wave, then moved towards the door and left the lounge.

Izumi watched the door for a moment, then turned back to the room at large and saw Shouta making his way over to her. “I need to get going now Izumi. I’ll see you later, and try not to be too much of a brat, okay?” He placed his hand on her head and ruffled her hair as he gave her a grin.

Izumi huffed as she narrowed her eyes at him, but after a moment it was replaced with a grin. “I’m only a brat around you Dad. I need to keep you on your toes after all,” she replied cheekily.

Shouta’s grin disappeared and was replaced by a tired deadpan. “Brat.”

Izumi copied his expression as her grin also disappeared. “Ass.”

The two stared at each other for a few long moments, then Izumi cracked and began to giggle, while Shouta gained an amused smile.

Shouta turned to the door and looked over his shoulder at her. “Call me when you’re done for the day, or if something happens. See you later.” He raised a hand over his other shoulder in a wave as he got to the door and walked out.

Izumi raised her hand in a similar wave. “Bye,” she replied back as she watched him leave the room.

Once the door closed behind Shouta, Izumi suddenly felt… strangely uncertain about where she was. This would be the longest she had been away from her father since being taken in by him, even compared to a few days while living at UA where he would go teach the students and leave her with Nedzu.

Izumi grew a frown. “This is not going to be fun…” She mumbled to herself.

“Aizawa? Are you alright?” 

Izumi looked up upon hearing her family name, and locked eyes with her homeroom teacher, who was looking at her with minor worry.

She stared back at him for a moment, then turned as she let out a scoff. “I’m fine. Let’s just get moving so I can get this day over with…” She grumbled as she moved towards the door.

Eisen blinked at her, but after a moment let out a small chuckle. “Well alright, let’s go to the classroom then.” He moved to follow after her and left the room alongside Izumi and the other teachers.

* * *

The students of class 1-B of Somei Academy were settled into their seats as the bell rang and announced that school had started for the day.

Many were excited. They had been told the previous week that they would be receiving a new classmate this day. A new classmate was always welcome, as it meant someone new to make friends with.

The door to the classroom opened and their teacher stepped inside. “Good morning class,” he greeted as he gave them all a smile.

The class smiled back. “Good morning mister Kisugi,” the class replied in unison.

Eisen walked up to the podium at the front of the class, then turned and looked over the class, while doing a quick internal headcount to make sure everyone was present.

Once he was sure everyone was present he nodded to himself, then looked ahead. “Now, for the first thing for today’s homeroom, I told you last week that today you’ll be receiving a new classmate.”

The class grew more excited, but when Eisen raised a finger, they paused. “But, be careful with her. She’s had a bad past and isn’t happy to talk with new people. If you approach her, be careful and don’t push it, because she can react aggressively,” he warned as his expression and tone turned serious. He wasn’t going to tell them who Izumi actually was, or her past, but this would get the point across just as well.

The class just stared for a moment, then their expressions likewise grew serious and they all nodded in understanding. They had had a new classmate previously that had a similar past, so they would do their best to accommodate their new classmate just as well.

Eisen grew a smile again as he saw this. “Thank you, everyone.” He then turned to the door, which he had left open. “You can come in now.”

The class turned to the door, and after a moment watched as a girl, with long green and black hair, stepped into the classroom.

The girl wore what seemed to be a bored expression as she side eyed the class while walking up beside the teacher, then stopped and turned to the class, while keeping her hands in her pockets.

Eisen looked down at the girl. “Why don’t you introduce yourself?” He suggested warmly.

The girl let out… a scoff? “Whatever.” She focused on the class and looked over them for a quick moment, though it felt more as if she was analysing them. “Name’s Izumi Aizawa. I’m just here because I have to be, don’t expect me to make friends with any of you,” she introduced gruffly, while still wearing the same bored expression.

The class was… a bit surprised by her blunt and rather dismissive attitude, but it also seemed on par with what their teacher had said about her.

Some shared glances with each other, but as they did, their expressions turned slightly serious as they all shared a silent conversation.

They would make friends with her, and help her.

They all turned back and gave Izumi bright smiles. “Welcome Aizawa!” They replied unanimously.

Izumi blinked in minor surprise. That… had not been the reaction she had expected. 

What she had expected was for them to dismiss her, because of her attitude, she had counted on it in fact.

She suddenly got the feeling that her days at school would be plagued with people trying to get close to her, and it made her eye twitch for a moment, but she didn’t show it nor have an outburst.

Eisen let out a chuckle. “Thank you for giving her a warm welcome everyone.” He then turned back to Izumi as he raised a hand to point to the back corner of the classroom. “Why don’t you go to your seat now? It's the one back there, in the corner.”

Izumi looked up at him for a moment, then followed his arm to the corner of the room.

She took a moment to stare, then began to walk between the seats towards her own, all the while doing her best to keep from grabbing her sword or look at her ‘classmates’.

Izumi got to her seat quickly, then sat down in her chair while placing her backpack, which she had worn the entire time, on the hook on the desk, then she loosened her tie, removed her jacket and placed it on the back of her chair, leaned back in said chair, cross her arms, and looked at the teacher.

Once Eisen saw she was settled in, he turned back to the class at large. “Now, let’s get started then.”

* * *

The bell rang as the first break came around, and the math teacher, who had arrived after homeroom finished, left the room after assigning some simple homework.

Izumi looked down at the math pieces she had been given for homework. “Fucking homework…” She grumbled under her breath as she reached down to put the paper into her bag.

“Hey Aizawa!” 

Izumi looked up upon hearing her name and narrowed her eyes slightly when she saw much of the class had gathered around her desk. “What?” She asked gruffly. She wouldn’t dismiss them immediately, but she was not happy with the fact they were already trying to talk to her.

None of her classmates were discouraged by her gruff tone, and one green haired girl, who seemed to have sharp, almost shark like teeth, which Izumi could see because of the wide smile on her face, stepped forward. “My name is Setsuna Tokage, it’s nice to meet you.” She reached out a hand for a handshake as she introduced herself.

Izumi looked down at the girl’s hand for a moment, then looked back up and narrowed her eyes. “I have no interest in making friends. Fuck off,” she replied bluntly as she went back to putting the paper away, then pulled out her phone and settled into her seat as he began to play a game.

All the students, including Setsuna, blinked at this blunt and very dismissive reply, but the green haired girl recovered quickly. “Aw come on, don’t be like that. Come on, let’s be friends,” she pushed a bit as she walked a bit closer to Izumi.

Izumi turned to Setsuna with narrowed eyes. “What part of ‘I have no interest in making friends’, did you not understand?” She asked with a deadpan tone.

Setsuna blew a raspberry. “You talk but I don’t listen if it doesn’t make sense. Come on, what do you like to do in your free time?” She asked as she rested her elbows on Izumi’s desk and her chin in her hands, while looking at Izumi.

Izumi was, for lack of a better word, dumbfounded as she stared at this girl. She had fully expected that her being rude to her classmates would make them go away.

But this Setsuna person, she wasn’t discouraged, in any way. She simply glossed over her dismissive disposition and continued to try and get close to Izumi.

For a few seconds, the two stared at each other as Izumi thought of what to do. If she made a scene or reacted aggressively, she would get punished, so she couldn’t just tell off Setsuna.

Izumi let out a small growl, then a sigh. “Train, fight, anything that gets my blood pumping…” She said as she replied to Setsuna’s question.

Setsuna hummed. “Fighting… So you’re a rough girl then?” She asked as her grin turned slightly teasing.

Izumi shrugged, but said nothing as she turned back to her phone.

Setsuna looked at Izumi for a moment. “So, what’s your quirk?” She asked as she continued onto another subject.

Izumi paused for a moment.

The subject of her quirk was a tricky one, but thankfully one they had discussed before sending her to school.

Izumi, with her right hand, which was the one pointed towards Setsuna, reached down, then in one swift movement pulled her sword from its sheath. 

She turned to Setsuna as she held the sword upside down beside her, which let her see the surprised, and almost awed expression on the other girl’s face. “My family has been subjected to Quirk Marriages for many generations, and I’m the latest subject, but after All Might’s announcement about Endeavor I managed to get free.” Her eyes turned to her sword. “This sword is the main part of my quirk, and no, you’re not allowed to touch it.” She sheathed her sword as she looked back to Setsuna, who seemed slightly upset as the sword was put back.

It was only after she placed it in her sheathe that she realised she had just blurted all that out without a second thought, and confusion set in for a moment.

The confusion disappeared after a moment when caution took over instead and focused in on Setsuna with scrutinising eyes. “What’s yours?” She asked, not out of curiosity, but caution. If her quirk was what she thought it might be, then it would explain why she had just talked as she did.

Setsuna blinked. “Oh, me? Easy.” She grew a grin, which… split off from her face?

Izumi blinked. “What the fuck?” she said with surprise. She had very much not been prepared for that.

Setsuna let out a laugh, which somehow came out of her mouth despite it being detached from her lungs. “I love it when people see my quirk for the first time, they always get super surprised,” she said as her mouth returned and reattached itself to her face.

Izumi stared for a moment, now even more confused as to why she had just spoken when she did.

The bell rang just then, making the girls blink, before Setsuna grew a smile at the other green haired girl. “Looks like it’s time to get back to it. Let’s talk more at lunch, alright?” She waved to Izumi as she went back towards her own seat, halfway across the classroom.

Izumi looked at the girl as she walked away. 

Setsuna was… strange, in her mind. The girl wasn’t taken aback by the way she spoke to her, which was very dismissive and uncaring, but the sharp toothed girl just… kept trying to get close.

Izumi narrowed her eyes slightly as she stared at Setsuna, who was looking ahead as the next teacher entered the room.

Setsuna was going to be very annoying, she could already tell.

* * *

Classes continued, and eventually the bell rang for lunch.

Izumi stood up from her desk as the bell rang, then took a moment to stretch her arms and legs. 

“Hey Aizawa!”

Izumi’s eye, despite being closed, twitched as a voice suddenly spoke up loudly, and she turned while still stretching to the origin of the voice.

Sure enough, standing by the forward door was Setsuna, and she was waving at Izumi with a wide smile on her face. “Come on, let’s go to lunch. You can sit with me and my friends,” she said across the room.

Izumi narrowed her eyes at the girl, then scoffed as she turned and moved towards the back door of the classroom, then turned towards the cafeteria and continued walking.

As she walked, with her hands in her pockets, she heard as hurried footsteps approached from behind, and groaned as she knew what was coming. “Go away,” she said without turning away.

Setsuna grinned as she came up alongside Izumi. “Nope! I’m your friend now, and that means you’re stuck with me,” she replied cheekily.

Izumi turned to the girl and gave her a glare. “Buzz off. I don’t want friends, I don’t need them,” she stated with a minorly angry tone.

Setsuna kept her cheeky grin on her face. “Don’t believe you. Come on, I’ll introduce you to my friends, they’ll be happy to be friends with you too.” She took hold of Izumi’s hand before hurrying ahead, not excited to bring Izumi to the cafeteria to eat with her friends.

But she didn’t make it far as Izumi wrenched her hand away. “ _ Don’t fucking touch me! _ ” She hissed out angrily while her glare intensified tenfold.

Setsuna whipped around upon Izumi pulling away her hand, but the girl’s tone and glare told her immediately that she had gone too far.

Her expression turned slightly sheepish as she gave Izumi an apologetic smile. “Sorry… I couldn’t help myself,” she apologised as she fiddled with her fingers.

Izumi glared at the girl for a moment longer, then scoffed before turning and walking away. “Stay away from me, and if you do that again, I won’t stop at glaring,” she warned angrily as she walked away, and as she did every student that had watched the exchange parted out of the way.

Setsuna watched as Izumi walked away, feeling bad about having gotten over excited and doing something Izumi did not appreciate at all.

But, as she watched, she also made herself a promise.

She would make it up to Izumi, but first she had to gain some trust with her.

* * *

Izumi made it to the cafeteria quickly, having followed the signs in the halls, which she had to admit were extremely helpful.

The first thing she noted as she walked through the doors, was the massive amount of students present inside.

She didn’t like it, and made a beeline for the line waiting for food. Thankfully she knew what to do here, thanks to Shouta having taken her to UA’s cafeteria outside of lunch time and gave her a brief explanation of how it usually works.

She got into the line and waited as it progressed along.

It thankfully, in Izumi’s opinion, didn’t move too slowly and she quickly made it to the till and picked up a tray.

Once in front of the food, Izumi discovered it was a simple fish and rice recipe, but she wasn’t sure which. She wasn’t picky though, so she accepted it and moved one.

Izumi walked through the cafeteria, towards the exit, intent on walking outside to eat there, with less noise and people.

“Excuse me, you are not allowed to leave the cafeteria with food. Please return to a table as everyone else is! And where is your jacket?”

Izumi stopped in her tracks as a voice spoke aloud, and a tick mark appeared on her forehead.

She slowly turned around, and standing a few meters behind her, with a tray of his own, was a boy with dark blue hair and glasses. 

The boy was holding the tray with one hand and making a robotic chopping motion. “Also, what is that thing attached to your waist. It is against the dress code to have anything else beside the school uniform. Please remove it immed-”

Izumi’s tick mark became slightly bigger as her anger grew.

“ **SHUT THE FUCK UP!** ”

The boy, and everyone else, immediately quieted down as Izumi’s loud, and clearly angry voice rang through the room.

Izumi glared at the boy ahead of her while baring her teeth. “I don’t know who the  _ fuck _ you think you are, but this ‘thing’ on my back is part of my quirk, and the principal gave me permission to go outside because I don’t want to be stuck with fuck heads like  **you** . So shut the fuck up, go the fuck away,  **and leave me the fuck alone** .” Izumi was very angry now, and it showed in her voice, body language and expression.

She promptly turned around as she finished telling off the weird boy, then stomped out of the cafeteria while grinding her teeth, leaving the cafeteria full of stunned students, who now knew to be careful with that particular girl.

Izumi walked through the school and quickly found an exit, which she took and left the building.

* * *

Izumi only walked for a short bit before she found a spot to sit, which was a bench going along a path through the school campus.

Once she was sitting down, she promptly began to eat her lunch, though she was in a very bad mood now and was quite aggressive about it as a result, but she did note that it tasted good regardless, not nearly as good as Hizashi or Lunch Rush’s food, but it wasn’t bad.

Once she was done eating, which she was quickly, she stood up and decided to use the last few minutes of her break to blow off some steam, otherwise she was not going to be able to handle the rest of the day.

She stepped away from the bench and walked onto the nearby grassy area, then drew her sword from its sheath.

Izumi held her sword beside her as she took a deep breath, then she brought her left leg slightly back and out to the side.

She then began to unleash a multitude of singular, powerful slashes, each of which created a gust of wind that blew through the area ahead of her.

Izumi continued this for a good minute, then stopped for a moment to shift her stance slightly.

After another moment of standing still, her arm and sword became a blur as she unleashed slash after slash in the air ahead of her, creating a continuous billow of air that rushed across the grassy area and into the tree line a ways away, causing said trees to bend slightly due to the air force.

Izumi continued this for five minutes straight, and during this time she unleashed at least several hundred slashes.

She stopped eventually and let out a breath. She hadn’t tried doing a flurry for so long before and she could feel the small hit on her stamina.

But at the same time she felt better. Getting to use her sword always seemed to get her mind off of certain things, and she was certainly happy that it was helping now.

Izumi took a moment to stretch, then let out a happy noise. “Much better…” She mumbled to herself.

She twirled her sword around for a moment, then swiftly inserted it into its sheath and turned around to go back to the bench.

She paused when her eyes fell on the two figures that were standing by the path, next to the bench, and gawking at her.

Setsuna, and the weird boy from the cafeteria.

Izumi’s bad mood threatened to return just from seeing them, but she managed to keep her cool for the moment. “Why are you here? I specifically told everyone, very clearly, to leave me the hell alone,” she asked gruffly, on the border of anger, as she walked towards the bench.

Setsuna and the boy shook out of their gawking at Izumi’s voice, and for a few moments they just stared at Izumi as she walked towards them.

Then, as Izumi was almost at the bench, Setsuna recovered and a large smile grew on her face. “That. Was. So. AWESOME,” the green haired girl exclaimed with a sudden burst of excitement and awe.

Izumi blinked, but before she could say anything, Setsuna continued. “You just went like,  _ swoosh _ , and you made a massive burst of wind just by slashing your sword, and then you did like, what, a hundred slashes a minute? That is super insane!” As Setsuna gushed over what she had seen Izumi go, she imitated slashing with a sword in the same way Izumi had.

Izumi stared as the Setsuna gushed excitedly, but then her cheeks suddenly began to feel warm.

Confusion ran through her.  _ ‘What the hell? Why are my cheeks warm? Am I sick?’ _ She wondered as she brought a hand up to her cheek, then her forehead.

Her forehead wasn’t warm, so it couldn’t be a fever.

The weird boy began to speak as Izumi did this. “Indeed. While it is not allowed to use one's quirk on campus, it was quite a spectacular display of sword skill,” he said as he agreed with what Setsuna over all was saying, that Izumi’s display of quirk usage was incredible to watch, at least when factoring in her age.

Izumi looked at the boy for a moment as her cheeks began to grow warmer.

She was super confused, until remembering something, to be precise, an emotion.

Embarrassment.

Was she embarrassed? Was this what it felt like to be embarrassed?

It fit in with what she had read about it. Setsuna and the boy had complimented her, and compliments could cause embarrassment in others.

She didn’t know how to feel about it, and after a moment turned her head to the side. “Whatever, but you didn’t answer my question. Why are you here when I told everyone to leave me alone?” She asked the two as she walked over to the bench and collected her tray, then turned back to them, now having calmed down her embarrassment.

The two blinked at her, but Setsuna quickly gained a small sheepish smile. “I wanted to come out and… say sorry, really, but… I got distracted by you using your sword,” she admitted while rubbing the back of her neck slightly.

The boy nodded while looking at Setsuna and turned to Izumi. “I as well. I wished to apologise for my rudeness in the cafeteria. While I did not know you had permission, it was uncalled for of me to simply say all of these things while in the middle of the cafeteria.” The boy suddenly did a very stiff ninety degree bow. “I hope you will be able to forgive me for my actions.”

Izumi raised an eyebrow at the boy, then schooled her expression into her version of Shouta’s tired and bored expression. “Whatever, just don’t be an ass in the future,” she answered, before turning to Setsuna and giving her slightly narrowed eyes. “Don’t touch me again without getting permission, and I might forgive you, got it?” 

Setsuna looked at Izumi for a moment, then she grew a wide smile. “Got it, I’ll ask before doing it next time,” she replied cheerily.

Izumi looked at the girl for a moment, then let out a huff as she turned. “Good. I need to get this back before the bell goes off.” She began to walk away while giving a way over her shoulder.

Setsuna and the boy watched her walk away, then turned to each other for a moment, before likewise moving to enter the school building.

* * *

Another few hours later, the bell rang and the school day ended.

Izumi collected her things into her backpack as everyone did the same, then picked it up and slung it over her shoulder before turning towards the classroom door.

As she did, no one said anything, and once out of the room she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone.

She dialed up the number for Shouta, then brought the phone up to her ear.

As she walked through the hall, the phone dialed for a few moments.

After the fourth dial, the call was answered.  **“Hey.”**

Izumi grew a small grin. “Hey Dad. School’s over now, are you coming to get me?” She asked as she walked down a flight of stairs.

**“Yeah, I’ll be there soon. I finished just a bit ago myself. Just wait by the school gate, I’ll be there within twenty minutes or so,”** Shouta answered as the sound of a door closing came from the background.

Izumi hummed. “Okay. See you in a bit Dad,” she replied, then she brought the phone away and ended the call. Neither of them liked idle conversation over the phone, so it wasn’t an issue for either of them.

“Hey Aizawa, wait up!” A familiar voice exclaimed from behind.

Izumi rolled her eyes and let out a groan, then turned to look over her shoulder.

Sure enough, hurrying down the hall towards her was Setsuna, and she wore that toothy smile she always did.

Izumi gained a small scowl before turning again and continuing down the hall. “Why are you so fucking stubborn about this ‘friendship’ crap?” She asked as the other green haired girl came up beside her.

Setsuna grinned at Izumi as she kept pace beside her. “Because being friends is fun, and you look like a lot of fun,” she answered cheekily.

Izumi turned to her classmate with narrowed eyes. “So I’m entertainment to you?” She asked with a slightly dangerous tone.

Setsuna didn’t seem to sense the dangerous tone as she let out a giggle before shaking her head. “Nah, I was joking. I want to be your friend after what the teacher said, that you had a bad past. I want to be your friend and have fun with you,” she answered with a warm genuine smile. 

Izumi was genuinely surprised by this answer, an answer she could tell was real.

Despite not knowing Izumi, and her being dismissive, Setsuna still wanted to be friends with her, to have  _ fun _ with her.

In that moment, Izumi was reminded of how her father became friends with Hizashi and Nemuri. He acted dismissive with them too, yet they kept coming back. It had helped Shouta in the end, made him happier than he otherwise would have been, and they helped introduce him to his girlfriend, Emi. 

Izumi went quiet as she turned back ahead to leave the building, and Setsuna did the same.

As they walked across the campus ground towards the gate, Izumi spoke up.

“I’m not good at this friendship shit, but fuck it, I’ll try, but only because you’ll keep coming back anyway…” She grumbled out semi reluctantly, but she wouldn’t admit that she was interested in seeing where it would go.

Setsuna turned to Izumi and blinked with surprise, having not expected Izumi to say this so soon.

But a moment later she grew a smile. “Great, I can't wait then.”

Izumi couldn’t help the small grin that came to her own mouth. Setsuna’s excitement was strangely contagious now that she thought about it. 

As they arrived at the gate, Setsuna turned to Izumi with a bright smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow Aizawa, I need to go before the train leaves. Bye!” She raised a hand and waved at the other girl as she hurried down the road.

Izumi turned to the girl with her tired and bored expression and watched as the other girl ran away, but she did raise a hand in a slightly lazy goodbye, which the other girl saw.

Izumi then went over to the gate and leaned against it, having nothing better to do, and pulled out her phone to continue playing.

As she stood and waited, the rest of the student body also began to arrive at the gate, but as they saw Izumi, many kept their distance to her as they recognised her from the cafeteria, mainly her outburst. It had surprised many, and they were subsequently a bit afraid of her for that.

Izumi obviously took note of this, but said nothing. If they were afraid of her, then they knew not to take light of her. She ignored the tight feeling in her chest as she realised this.

It took roughly fifteen minutes before Shouta bulled up to the gate and rolled down a window. “Hey,” he greeted in Izumi’s direction.

Izumi looked up upon hearing the familiar voice and grew a smile as she saw him. “Hey Dad,” she greeted as she pocketed her phone and approached the car.

She opened the front passenger door and entered inside and put on her seatbelt, then turned to Shouta, who was still looking at her. “So how was the first day?” He asked with minor curiosity.

Izumi hummed before giving a small shrug. “Boring, and pretty annoying. Meet a classmate who won’t leave me alone and keeps saying she wants to be my friend. It reminded me of how Hizashi and Nemuri wouldn’t leave you alone at UA, so I decided ‘screw it’, if she tries anything I can beat her anyway. Also met a guy who’s definitely got a stick up his ass and tried to scold me about a few things. He kinda made me have an outburst in the cafeteria, but I didn’t hurt anybody,” she explained while leaning back in her seat and closing her eyes.

Shouta raised an eyebrow, then grew a grin. “So history is repeating itself for you like it did me, eh?” He asked with a slightly cheeky tone.

Izumi let out a scoff while keeping her eyes closed. “We’ll see. She seems genuine but I don’t trust her yet, so until she earns it, I’ll keep her at arms length,” she replied dismissively.

Shouta shook his head, but said nothing as he turned ahead and pulled the car away from the front of the school, then set course for home.

He had a feeling she was going to be fine at the school.


	14. Cafeteria Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> October 31st. Happy Halloween. Chapter 1/1.
> 
> Izumi and Setsuna stay inside during lunch for the first time, only for something to momentarily interrupt it.
> 
> (I admit I forgot it was Saturday, that's why it's a bit later than usual)

“Speech”  _ ‘thoughts’ _

Enjoy

  
  
  
  
  
  


Time went by after the first day.

The Wednesday of the first week, Izumi went to her first P.E lesson.

It was, to her, frankly boring.

It had been just some simple exercises to increase stamina, nothing that would help Izumi, and then finished off with a game of dodgeball.

To say that her classmates were surprised by her abilities would be an understatement. Her strength and speed shocked everyone, except the teacher, who knew of her identity as White like the other teachers, but when she revealed she was holding back, quite a bit, they grew a bit scared, though she dispelled it some by saying further that she had no interest in fighting any of them outside of sparing, where she wouldn’t do any serious damage either.

The only one of the class who wasn’t scared was Setsuna, who only proceeded to gush more and make Izumi further embarrassed, but never upset.

Beyond this, Izumi grew accustomed to the lessons after the second week, but it wasn’t until a month and a half after the first day that she finally agreed to sitting with Setsuna inside the cafeteria instead of outside on the bench, though Izumi had never even agreed to Setsuna sitting with her, she just went along as she typically did.

The strange thing for Izumi was how fast Setsuna had grown on her. After just the third week, Izumi realised she had stopped being vigilant with the green haired girl and was having semi regular conversations with her.

She had further realised that it didn’t bother her, in fact she dared say she may be enjoying some of their conversations.

It was… strangely nice.

The first day Izumi decided to sit in the cafeteria during lunch she had given Setsuna a condition. They sit at a table for themselves, for now, and she would let others join once she felt more secure about the room.

Setsuna had happily agreed, being happy that Izumi even wanted to sit inside.

Izumi and Setsuna were walking towards the cafeteria after the bell had rung for lunch.

Setsuna was talking about something she did during the weekend, but Izumi wasn’t listening very closely, only catching bits and pieces about her time with her other friends.

It only took them a minute to arrive in the cafeteria, and when they did, Izumi immediately went towards the food line, with Setsuna close behind, her having gotten used to Izumi simply going to get food first and then leave, as she didn’t like how many people were inside.

In the line, Izumi and Setsuna got to the front of the line quickly, though Izumi received some recognising looks and a few steps away from those around her, then they quickly collected their food and went to look for a table.

Setsuna guided Izumi to one side of the room, where there were typically less people.

Setsuna looked around as they walked, then her expression lit up before turning to Izumi. “I see a free table. Come on!” She turned after finishing speaking and hurried over to the table, which was quite literally in the back corner of the room.

Izumi followed along without a word and a bored expression, which she was wearing to hide how tense she was.

There were a  _ lot _ of people in the cafeteria, and even in the ‘quiet’ end she felt very uneasy, but she also knew that many of them knew who she was and that she wasn’t to be trifled with, which was the reason she had finally conceded to eating inside. That and the weather was beginning to get colder.

Setsuna sat down at the table, on the side facing the approaching Izumi, then looked up at her friend with a smile.

Izumi rolled her eyes at Setsuna’s excitement but sat down across from the other girl as she got to the table. “Are you that excited about sitting inside?” She asked the other girl with a raised eyebrow.

Setsuna kept her smile. “Kinda, I’m just glad you’re getting comfortable,” she answered as her smile softened slightly.

Izumi blinked at the genuine answer, but after a moment she let out a huff as she looked down at her tray and began to eat.

Lunch was normally a quiet affair, at least from Izumi’s side, while Setsuna typically just talked and occasionally received answers from the other girl.

As they sat and ate their food, which was unusually an Italian dish called ‘Pizza’, one that Izumi found herself enjoying quite a bit, they would exchange occasional words while the rest of the students collected and ate their food.

But barely four minutes after beginning their meal, something interrupted it.

“I told you, let me go!”

Izumi and Setsuna both blinked as a female voice suddenly sounded over the sound of people talking together, and they both turned to look down the line of tables, where it had come from.

There, just several tables away, was a girl and boy, and from the looks of it, the boy was holding onto one of the girl’s arms and trying to pull her away. “Do not speak back to me, now come with me as you are supposed to,” the boy demanded, his voice now clearly heard as everyone had gone quiet at the girl’s exclamation.

The girl seemed incredibly uncomfortable. “No, and I’ve told you, I won’t marry you and you can’t force me to. Let me go!” She demanded as she continued to try and pull away without dropping her food.

The boy seemed to become more agitated, but little did he know he wasn’t the only one.

At their table, Setsuna was watching with a frown. “He’s doing it again…” She mumbled to herself.

Izumi kept staring in the direction of the boy and girl. “Hey. Does that guy do that often?” She asked with a strangely blank tone.

Setsuna turned to her friend and blinked. “Wha- Oh, yeah. That’s Nicholas Ozamura, and the girl is-”

“I asked.”

Setsuna paused as Izumi spoke and interrupted her, but this time her tone was different.

It sounded angry.

“Does. He. Do. That. Often?”

Setsuna felt a strange wave of danger begin to emanate off of Izumi as she continued to stare at the boy and girl still tussling, with no one doing anything to stop it.

Setsuna hesitated for a moment, but then she had an idea of what was going on in Izumi’s head.

She grew a grin. “Yeah, he does it a lot.”

Izumi went quiet.

“Tokage. Make sure no one sits here.”

Izumi stood up as she spoke, then turned towards the boy and girl, while Setsuna gave her friend a salute. “Yes ma’am.”

She paused however when Izumi disappeared from sight, literally.

* * *

_ ‘Why is he still doing this? Just let me be!’ _

She didn’t understand why Nicholas kept insisting that he could decide where she went and what she did, and she especially didn’t understand why he thought he could decide that she  _ had _ to marry him.

She struggled to pull her arm away from the boy’s grip, but it was surprisingly strong, and she didn’t want to drop her food.

Why weren’t any of the teachers coming? Couldn’t they see what was going on?

Nicholas gained a scowl. “Don’t you dare defy me any further. Come with me-”

Suddenly, a hand landed on the boy’s wrist, surprising both of them. 

“Hey dipshit. She told you to stop, what part of that don’t you understand?”

Both boy and girl turned to the side, where a girl with green hair was standing and looking at Nicholas with a blank expression. But when had she gotten there?

Nicholas however didn’t seem to care, as his surprise gave way to anger again. “Who do you think you are, ordering me to do something?” He asked as he let go of the girl and moved to pull his arm out of the new girl’s grip.

He was surprised when he found the girl's grip to be strong,  _ very strong, _ and couldn’t get his arm free.

The new girl’s expression remained blank, but her eyes… her eyes held something else. “Why don’t I ask you that question first? Who the  _ fuck _ do you think you are, trying to force someone to do something they don’t want to do?” She asked, her tone blank, but holding something in the back that nobody could quite discern yet.

Nicholas didn’t seem to register this undertone as he answered her, still with a scowl on his face. “I am the son of the CEO of Ozamura Oil industries, and if you do not unhand me I will make sure your life is ruined forever,” he answered while continuing to try and pull his arm away.

The new girl hummed. “Well, my name is Izumi Aizawa, and I can ruin your life too.” As she spoke, her right hand, which was free, began to reach around to her lower back.

A moment later, a sound began to ring out. A sound familiar to anyone who had watched movies involving swordsmen.

The students in the immediate area watched as Izumi slowly unsheathed a  _ sword _ , then as it was out of its sheath she turned it in her hand with one swift movement.

Izumi’s tone and expression then began to turn.

They became  _ dark _ . “Now. What would you rather want?”

Izumi brought her sword over to Nicholas’ arm. “Would you rather I take your arm?”

She then moved the sword to his neck. “Or your  **life** ?” 

Izumi asked both questions with a certain dark calmness, a dangerous one.

Nicholas’ demeanor immediately shifted upon seeing the blade being drawn and fear became clear on his expression. “N-No, please, I’m s-sorry, I-”

Izumi brought the sword closer to the boy’s neck as she glared at him. “Shut up. Now, listen closely. If I ever see, or hear, you’ve gone close to her or done anything similar to this with anyone else, ever again, I’ll cut you into tiny little pieces, and I’m not afraid to do so. Wanna know why?”

With one sudden movement, she pulled the boy close while keeping the blade to his neck, then she leaned in close to his ear.

“ _ Because I’m White, the girl who killed Endeavor, the former number two hero. _ ”

Nicholas’ eyes became wide, because he knew, he somehow immediately knew, that those words were  _ true _ .

His legs began to shake violently and threatened to give out from under him as Izumi pulled away and gave him a sickly sweet smile. “Do you understand~?” She asked with a slightly sing-song voice that held much fury behind it.

Nicholas stared at her with terror for a few seconds, while Izumi seemed to loom before him, casting a shadow down upon him.

He managed to nod, but his entire body was shaking at this point, and in response Izumi moved her sword away from his neck and let go of his arm. “Good boy. Now  **SCRAM** ,” she ordered suddenly as she unleashed all her held back anger at once and slashed at the air, causing a burst of wind to tear through the cafeteria.

The boy didn’t need to be told twice, and before the winds even dissipated he had already turned and was running away as fast as he could.

Izumi watched him as he ran, while her anger still simmered at the top, but seeing the boy turn tail as he did brought amusement to the front and masked the anger.

She then looked around as the boy disappeared from sight, at the students sitting around and gawking at her. “What? Do you have anything to say?” She asked as she narrowed her eyes.

The students all immediately turned away and tried to act as if nothing had happened.

Izumi looked for a moment, then she let out a huff before sheathing her sword.

She then turned to the girl she had helped and took in her appearance for a moment.

She had her black spiky hair pulled up into a high ponytail and onyx coloured eyes. She also seemed to be stuck in surprise or awe.

Izumi looked her up and down for a moment, then focused on her face. “Hey, you got a table to sit at?” She asked slightly gruffly, but it was her default tone nowadays, largely thanks to Shouta.

The girl shook out of her daze at the question. “Ah, um, no… I don’t…” She admitted as her head lowered slightly.

Izumi looked at the girl for a moment. “What’s your name?”

The girl blinked as she raised her head. “Oh, my name is Momo Yaoyorozu. Thank you for helping me with Ozamura,” she thanked politely as she gave Izumi a small bow.

Izumi scoffed as she turned away. “Assholes like that piss me off, reminds me too much of what happened to me.” She then turned back to Momo. “Come on, you can sit at our table,” she said as she turned and began to walk away.

Momo stood up straight again as her eyes widened with surprise. “Really? But I-“

Izumi stopped in place and looked over her shoulder. “If that asshole ignores my warning then you have to be near me so I can teach him a lesson again, so just come on,” she replied gruffly once more as she turned back ahead and continued walking.

Momo stared at Izumi’s back for a few moments, but then a smile began to spread across her face and she hurried after her saviour.

As they approached the table, Izumi could see Setsuna still sitting at the table, and with a wide toothy grin no less. “Nice job Aizawa. I’ve wanted to do something about him for a long time, but I didn’t want trouble with his parents. Looks like that won’t be an issue for you though,” she said as she looked at Izumi.

Izumi rolled her eyes. “He acted all tough, but he wasn’t even worth cutting to scare,” she replied as she sat back down in her seat. 

Setsuna let out a laugh, then turned to Momo with a bright smile. “Hey, I’m Setsuna Tokage, did Aizawa tell you you could sit with us?” She asked with a welcoming tone.

Momo seemed slightly surprised by this, but masked it quickly with a smile of her own. “Hello, I am Momo Yaoyorozu, and yes, Aizawa said that she wanted me near if Ozamura attempted to force me with him again,” she answered with joy leaking through her polite tone.

Setsuna’s smile turned to a grin again. “You’re lucky then. Aizawa here doesn’t like new people, heck she still doesn’t talk to me much, and I’ve known her for over a month now.” She then scooted over to the next seat and pulled her tray along. “Sit down and eat, we’ve already used a lot of time on Ozamura so we need to hurry a bit,” she invited cheerily.

Momo’s smile grew slightly further and she sat down.

As she did, both Setsuna and Izumi realised that the ravenette had quite a bit of food on her tray. “That’s a lot of food,” Setsuna remarked with surprise.

Momo blinked. “Oh, yes. My quirk uses my fat lipids to function, so I need to eat quite a bit of food to make sure I have enough,” she replied with a small slightly embarrassed smile.

Setsuna hummed. “Cool. What does it do?” She asked curiously as she looked up at the ravenette.

Momo seemed to hesitate for a moment, but after a few seconds she raised an arm.

Setsuna and Izumi both watched as Momo’s forearm began to glow a shimmering display of red, white and blue, then suddenly something popped out of the light.

Izumi and Setsuna both stared at the matryoshka doll that had popped into existence and was resting in Momo’s other hand. “My quirk is called  **Creation** , and it allows me to create anything I know the molecular structure of and can imagine in my mind,” she explained with a sheepish smile.

The two green haired girls staired for several moments. “Okay, even I have to admit that that’s pretty damn awesome,” Izumi said as she grew a small approving grin.

Momo blinked in surprise, having expected a much different response, but then Setsuna spoke up. “Dang. Your quirk is awesome,  _ and _ you got a compliment from Aizawa. I just get told I’m annoying,” she said as she crossed her arms and pouted.

Izumi turned to Setsuna with a deadpan expression. “You’re annoying, but I tolerate you. That’s more than can be said for pretty much everyone else in the world,” she said with an equally deadpan tone.

Setsuna raised her head and looked at Izumi with genuine surprise, then she grew a wide smile and threw her fists into the air and whooped. “She tolerates me!” 

Izumi rolled her eyes and shook her head, while Momo blinked at the interaction. It was a strange dynamic the two girls had, but… it was strangely funny too.

Momo couldn’t help as a giggle escaped her lips, and both green haired girls turned to her and both grew smiles, though Izumi wouldn’t admit it. They had both felt Momo’s unease, and Izumi had said what she did for two reasons. One, they were her genuine thoughts, and two, she wanted to try and lighten her mood. 

Izumi knew well what it was like to be forced into something she didn’t want, and she had made a silent vow to make sure nobody else had to experience anything like it.

The rest of lunch was a nice affair, even for Izumi, and all three talked together, though it was mostly Setsuna as usual.

At the end of lunch as they had returned their trays and went to return to class, Izumi stopped and turned to Momo. “You can sit with us again tomorrow.” Then she turned and continued along.

Momo blinked, but then felt a small shove on the shoulder, and turned to see Setsuna looking at her with a grin. “I guess she likes you, you’re lucky. See you later Yaoyorozu,” she said before moving to hurry after Izumi, while waving to the ravenette girl.

Momo stood in front of the doors out of the cafeteria and stared with surprise.

But then, a warm fuzzy feeling began to spread out from her chest, and a smile came to her face.

Momo went back to class happy that day, because she finally felt she had people who wanted to be around her.


	15. Prelude to Chaos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> November 7th. Chapter 1/1.
> 
> Izumi comes to a decision involving her future, and the future opens up to many possibilities.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **So, before this chapter starts, I have a small announcement to make, one that involves all of my fics.**
> 
> **Basically, I have no more chapters prewritten, and I think my brain is in need of a serious break at this point.**
> 
> **So, I have a deal for you all.**
> 
> **I have a fic, a MHA x Seven Deadly Sins crossover, that I was doing in the background, but lost interest in and abandoned.**
> 
> **If you all are interested, I can upload the chapters for this fic until I get going again, but eventually it will simply cut off, but if anyone is interested in adopting it, I will be willing to talk about it.**
> 
> **Post your decisions in the comments please and, well, you'll all know the answer by next week.**
> 
> **Have a good week everyone, and may it be free of sickness for you all :D**

“Speech” _‘thoughts’_

Enjoy

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Time went by and Izumi grew used to the school life. She was at the top of her class already, not because she was really trying, but she was apparently that smart.

At lunch, she had eventually allowed Tenya Iida, who she had known as ‘the weird boy that tried to scold her in the cafeteria on her first day’, to join the table with her, Setsuna and Momo, but this was only after he had slowly tried to get close to the sword wielding girl.

Beyond this, there wasn’t much she felt was worth noting.

Until roughly a year and two months after her first day at Somei, where something happened.

Something that would influence where she would take her life in the future.

* * *

Lunch had come around once again and Izumi, Setsuna, Momo and Tenya, who had all made it to first name basis some time ago, were eating at their usual table as normal.

Momo picked through her food but wasn’t eating for the first two minutes, which didn’t go past anyone.

Surprisingly though, it was Izumi who, in her usual semi tactless fashion, turned to the ravenette. “You’re not eating. Something wrong?” She asked with her usual tired expression but a genuinely slightly worried tone.

Momo jumped, as if she hadn’t been paying attention to her surroundings and turned to Izumi with a ‘deer caught in the headlights’ look. “What?” She asked with surprise, as she had obviously not been listening.

Izumi raised an eyebrow. “Something’s bothering you. Did Ozamura try to force you into marriage again?” She asked as her expression turned slightly dark.

Momo quickly shook her head. “No no no, I haven’t seen him since he transferred schools after what you said to him, I assure you. I was… I was just thinking…” she admitted as her tone turned quiet near the end.

Izumi rested her elbow and the table as she leaned to the side. “And..?”

Momo shrank in on herself slightly. “I… Do… Do you think… I could be a good hero?” She asked with a low, meek tone.

Izumi stared at Momo with surprise faintly visible on her expression. “Do I think you could be a good hero? What kind of question is that?” She asked with an incredulous tone.

Momo shrank in further at Izumi’s words.

“With your quirk, smarts and thoughtfulness, you’d be one of the best damn heroes.”

Momo paused and her mind ground to a halt.

For a few long seconds, she didn’t move an inch, then slowly she turned to Izumi. “What?” She asked, thinking she must have misheard.

Izumi blew a raspberry. “Don’t give me that, I know you heard me.” She then turned to Setsuna and Tenya. “Right?” She asked with a grin.

Setsuna and Tenya both nodded. “Yeah! Momo, I’ve seen you use your quirk, you use it super awesomely and I know you think about others, so I think you’d be a great hero,” Setsuna agreed cheerily.

“Indeed. You’re incredibly proficient with your quirk, so much so it makes me feel inadequate on occasion, and your care for others is inspiring as well. I hope we will become great heroes together,” Tenya agreed as well. 

The other three turned to the bespectacled boy with minor surprise. “You want to be a hero too, Tenya?” Momo asked with said surprise.

Tenya nodded. “Of course. I wish to be a hero like my brother. The Turbo Hero: Ingenium,” he announced proudly.

The other three stared for a moment, then Setsuna gained a bright awed expression. “Your brother is _the_ Ingenium?!” She asked excitedly. She had never realised Tenya was related to Ingenium, one of the most well known heroes in japan who had the most sidekicks under his employ.

Tenya gave the girl a nod. “Indeed. He has been an inspiration to me for years, and I hope to be as great as he is if I graduate,” he explained, still with the proud tone.

Setsuna let out a laugh. “I wanna be a hero too, this is crazy,” she exclaimed with excitement.

Her eyes then went to Izumi. “What about you Izumi? Do you want to be a hero too?” She asked with a smile.

Momo and Tenya likewise turned to Izumi, who blinked as she was suddenly the center of attention.

But she realised quickly that she had never thought of it. She had thought of what she’d do once she was finished with school, obviously, but she never had found her answer.

Her head lowered and her expression changed as she genuinely began to think it over. “I… never figured out what I’d do after school,” she admitted with a slightly unsure tone.

Her three friends, yes, she thought of them as such, blinked at her, but then Setsuna grew a smile. “Well, I think you’d be an amazing hero. You’re super strong and you make sure nobody around you gets hurt, like with Momo. Heck, I think you could be the next number one hero after All Might retires.” Her tone was confident and sure as she said this, and each word was genuine.

Momo nodded as she grew a smile. “I agree. I admit, I often look to your example when I think of who I wish to be. When you stopped Ozamura, you were… my hero, and I did, and still do look up to you, despite how gruff you can be,” she admitted as she grew a shy blush and lowered her head slightly.

Tenya nodded as well. “It is as Momo says. You appear to have a heroic spirit within you, it may simply be held back by your reluctance to associate with new people,” he suggested politely.

Izumi looked between all three of them as their words sunk in for her.

But then, Setsuna said the golden words, and she did so with a grin. “If you become a hero, you get to fight villains.”

Izumi visibly paused at this, and for a few moments she didn’t move.

Then, the edges of her mouth began to pull up, but one side went higher than the other.

With her grin, she turned to Setsuna. “You know what?”

“I think I might just become a hero after all.”

* * *

Later as school went out and Izumi went home with public transport, which she had gotten somewhat used to over the past four or five months, Izumi’s mind returned to what had been said at lunch.

_‘Could I be a good hero? I like fighting more than helping, and a hero should help as the first thing…’_

She had no answer, but she would get one before long, and she knew just how.

* * *

Izumi arrived at UA before long and as usual she received confused and surprised looks from passersby as she walked through the gate without it activating, but she didn’t care about them.

She had become known to the students of the school as the daughter of one of the teachers, so no one stopped her, but they would smile and wave at her, and she would, out of politeness, give them small waves back, however little she wanted to do so.

She arrived at the teacher’s dorm before long and entered through the front door.

The first sound that registered for her was screeching, specifically Hizashi’s screeching.

She turned to the source and found that the blond was running through the common room in what appeared to be fear, but why was beyond her.

“God damn it Hizashi, stop running so I can kill the damn wasp!”

Izumi then realised that Nemuri was running after the screeching cockatoo with a spray bottle in her hand, and she immediately understood what was going on.

See, Hizashi had a deathly fear of insects, and especially of the eight legged and winged variety.

Izumi rolled her eyes as she fully entered the dorm, but ignored what was going on, as it wasn’t very unusual.

She went towards the sofa, and as expected there laid a familiar yellow sleeping bag. “I’m back,” she announced to the sleeping bag.

The sleeping bag turned around, revealing Shouta’s usual tired expression. “Welcome back. Had a good day?” He asked with a tired tone, but also genuine interest. 

Izumi nodded. “It was alright.” She then went quiet for a moment. 

“Hey, Dad? Do you think I’d be a good hero if I decide to be one?” 

Shouta seemed to pause for a moment, having been moving to turn around again, as usually they would greet and Izumi would walk away at that point.

For a few seconds he didn’t move or say anything, then while facing upwards he unzipped his sleeping bag and stepped out of it.

He pushed the bag to the side as he sat on the sofa and looked at Izumi. “What brought this question around?” He asked with a mixture of curiosity and worry.

Izumi shrugged before moving to sit beside him on the sofa. “The others talked about it at lunch. They all want to be heroes, and they said I’d be a good one, but…” she looked up at him with an uncertain expression. “Do you think so too? I’ve never really figured out what I want to do after school, but I’ve thought about it a lot more since lunch, and the more I think, the more I can’t think of anything I would want to be other than a hero…” Her tone as she spoke was unsure, and her expression even more so. It was something Shouta was very unused to seeing from her.

Shouta went quiet for a few moments as he thought it over. 

He didn’t need to think long, because it wasn’t the first time.

“I’ve thought about it before, and I know what my answer is.”

Izumi had since turned away and was looking ahead at the TV. She didn’t want to be looking at him at this point.

“You’d need to fix how you approach new people a bit, but I think you have what it takes. You don’t really need to get stronger, only some discipline.”

Izumi paused as her father’s words rang through her mind, then slowly she turned and looked at him with an expression that was a mixture of surprise and incredulous. “Seriously?” She asked with a somewhat flat tone.

Shouta rolled his eyes. “Yes, really. Look, I know there are still people out there who say things about you and want you put away, even now, but I’ve known you for, what, over two years now? I think I know better than they do as to what you’re like.” He gave her a smile before pulling her close and ruffling her hair.

Izumi was still surprised, but felt better at his words.

She wrapped her arms around him in a hug. “Thanks Dad,” she replied with a happy tone.

Shouta hummed. “You’re welcome. So, does that mean you know what you’ll be doing in the future?” He asked with a small smile.

Izumi gave him a nod and a smile as she leaned back. “Yeah. I’ll be a hero, and I’ll prove to everyone that I’m not a rabid animal,” she decided with a confident smirk.

Shouta nodded. “Good. Now go up and chance clothes, then come down here with your sleeping bag. I’ll get a movie ready.” This was a small ritual they had developed. Watching movies together in their own individual sleeping bags, but it was typically restricted to the weekend, but Shouta felt it was only right to ‘celebrate’ this development with it. 

Izumi nodded, then she quickly hopped off the sofa and hurried up the stairs towards her room, while greeting Snipe who was walking into the common room at that moment.

As she disappeared from sight, Shouta’s smile faded and became replaced with a frown, then he brought his hands up to cover his face.

“You’re worried about the Commission, aren’t you?”

Shouta didn’t move for a moment, then let out a sigh as he dragged his hands down his face and turned to the side of the sofa.

His own tired eyes met Nedzu’s beady own. “You know I am. They can easily deny her entrance into any hero school, including UA, if they don’t want her to become a hero,” he answered with a slightly annoyed tone.

Nedzu hummed as he lowered his head slightly. “Yes…” Then the principal’s head rose with a wide smile on his face. “Which is why I have already thought up a plan if a scenario such as this were to happen,” he announced as his usual chipperness returned.

Shouta paused for a moment, then looked with a slightly surprised and incredulous look at the principal. “Really? Already?” He asked. He knew the principal tended to think of pretty much every possible scenario about things, but he hadn’t expected the principal would be this well prepared.

Nedzu nodded. “Why of course. I took Izumi’s love for fighting into account when considering what she may wish to do once older, and the most likely choice was becoming a hero. As a result, I began to make a contingency plan to resolve this.” The principal began to pace slowly in front of the teacher as he spoke.

Shouta followed the principal with his eyes. “And what is this plan?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Nedzu paused mid step, but stayed quiet for a few moments.

Then he turned, and revealed a dark smirk. “Blackmail.”

Shouta paused for several moments.

“...How?” Shouta asked with a calm but curious tone as he leaned forward.

Nedzu kept the evil smirk on his face as he answered. “I have uncovered evidence of much underhanded activity being done by the Heroics Commission, and I’ve long been looking for a good chance to use it against them. If they deny Izumi’s wish, I have every intention of revealing what I’ve found about them and tell them that if they do not allow her to be a hero, then I will reveal this information to the public, regardless of the repercussions,” he explained with a certain glee.

Shouta stayed quiet for a few moments, then he grew an evil grin of his own. “Glad to hear it sir. I’ll tell the Commission later at the end of the week in my usual report, and I’ll tell you if they put up a fuss,” he answered to the principal.

Nedzu nodded sagely. “Of course. I look forward to seeing their response.”

“Oh, hey Nedzu.”

Nedzu and Shouta turned to the side, and saw that Izumi had returned, now in casual clothing and with her sleeping bag in hand.

Nedzu smiled at Izumi. “Greetings Izumi. I was just speaking with your father, I hear you’re planning to become a hero?” He asked with genuine interest.

Izumi nodded as she continued walking up to them. “Yeah, it’s the only job I can imagine myself liking when I graduate,” she answered with a small shrug.

Nedzu chuckled. “Well, I look forward to seeing you go through the exam then. I’m confident it’ll be quite a display.” He then brought a paw to his chin. “Perhaps I’ll have Powerloader create a special robot to deal with you, as I’m sure the usual robots will be useless against you…” 

Shouta raised an eyebrow at the principal. “You seem sure that she’s going to take the regular exam and not the recommendation exam.”

Nedzu hummed. “You know as well as I that she will be at the top of either exam, but she will definitely want to participate in the combat oriented one,” he replied simply with an amused tone.

Shouta stared at the rodent for a moment, then he shrugged as he couldn’t deny it.

Nedzu looked back up at Izumi and raised a paw. “I’ll excuse myself now. Have a good evening until dinner you two.” The rodent turned on his heel and began to walk away while folding his paws behind his back.

Both Aizawas watched as he walked away, then turned to each other at the same time.

Shouta then shrugged before standing up. “Let me get the movie ready, I got distracted talking with Nedzu.” He picked up the TV remote and turned on the TV, then navigated to the movie streaming services.

Izumi didn’t say anything as she unfolded her sleeping bag and stepped inside and zipped it up.

It took a minute before Shouta found a movie both of them wanted to watch, then he got into his own sleeping bag and laid down on the sofa, then Izumi laid in front of him, but a bit below his chin so they both could see.

The rest of the evening was nice, and at dinner Izumi announced that she was going to be a hero, and all the teachers supported her decision, having come to know the girl over time and deciding that she wasn’t a dangerous person, so long as you didn’t give her a reason to be.

* * *

Later that week at the Heroics Commission, the board members had assembled to talk about some ‘worrying’ news.

The senior board member looked around. “You’ve all read the report, correct?” He asked with a small frown.

They all nodded wordlessly. “It’s difficult to believe that White wants to become a _hero_ after what she’s gone through,” one of the members remarked absentmindedly. 

Of the others, who was wearing a grumpy expression. “You mean what she’s _done_. I still can’t believe we’ve let her go free,” he said with a very gruff tone.

The senior turned to this member. “Watch your words Amuro, she’s a victim, not a criminal, and I wo-“

Another of the members interjected. “But he’s right that her becoming a hero isn’t the best idea. There are still many people who’re advocating for her to be put under guard,” she pointed out with a small frown.

The room quickly devolved in arguing as every member or the board had opinions on what to do, and they all varied greatly.

“ENOUGH!”

Everyone stopped as a voice shouted up, and they all turned to the end of the table.

The senior member had an angry expression on his face as he looked over all of them. “We are not children, and we will not squabble and argue like them. I am going to start this off simple, all who vote that she allowed to be a hero, raise your hands.” He scolded them all with a stern and upset tone, but it became more calm as he put forth his question and raised his hand.

Half of the room also raised their hands after a few seconds.

The senior frowned at this and lowered his hand. “We’re split then.”

The grumpy board member scoffed. “She’s a danger. Who knows if she’ll stay calm and rational during a fight, she might just lash out and kill more people,” he grumbled out in response.

At his words, a lightbulb went off in the senior’s head. “Then why not test and see if this is the case?” He suggested with a smile.

He could visibly see that he gained everyone’s attention at the question. “What precisely are you suggesting?” Another member asked inquisitively.

The senior hummed. “I suggest we test White’s strength and resolve by putting her in a real combat scenario. While yes, she has no real formal training, Eraserhead has stated that he spars with her on occasion and that she knows how to hold back.” He looked around at the board members. “If she passes, she’ll be allowed to become a hero, but if she fails, we’ll deny it. If you agree, raise your hand.” He raised his own hand as he finished speaking, then waited for the others to respond.

For a few seconds, nobody moved, then slowly, one by one, hands began to rise into the air.

In less than a minute, all but one had a hand raised, the grumpy man, but after a moment he let out a disgruntled sound and raised his hand as well.

The senior smiled. “The decision is unanimous then. White will be tested to find out if she’s capable of becoming a hero.”

Everyone at the table, except the grumpy member, nodded approvingly.

The senior nodded in return. “This meeting is finished then. I’ll contact the police and hear what investigations they have ongoing and see if there are any that would be fitting for her, and once I have I will send the plan out for everyone’s approval. Agreed?”

“Agreed.” Everyone answered.

Little did everyone know that this ‘test’ would become something much more, and much more serious.

* * *

Nedzu hummed as he looked at the document the Heroics Commission had sent for him in regards to Izumi wanting to become a hero. “This is better than I had anticipated,” he admitted to himself. “But still not ideal…”

It was the plan the Commission’s senior member had come up with to test if Izumi could be allowed to become a hero.

He was… a little worried about the specifics, not necessarily in regards to Izumi’s reactions, he knew she would react appropriately, but what she would be doing.

Apparently after searching the country’s police databases, they had found a place that was showing worrying reports, and after some talking with the government they had allowed the Commission to send in Izumi, so long as she was supervised by a group of heroes that would be able to take over the operation in case things went south.

What was this place they wanted to send her into?

Shinozawa Corporation, which was the hideout for a Yakuza group calling themselves the Shie Hassaikai, and according to reports, they were possibly, and successfully, developing Permanent Quirk Erasing technology.

This was what had Nedzu worried. If they were developing quirk erasing technology that permanently erased a quirk, then they had to be dealt with as quickly, but at the same time he was worried about sending in Izumi to do this.

But when he remembered the limit tests they had done with Izumi some time ago, he recalled that she had been fast enough to dodge bullets fired from Snipe’s revolver, both in physical speed and reaction time, and she was also very spatially aware and difficult to sneak up on. She would easily be able to dodge whatever form the quirk erasing technology was in.

After a few long minutes of thinking and deliberating, he decided he would allow it to proceed, but he replied with additional conditions that All Might and Eraserhead be present in case things go wrong.

He sent off his reply, then went back to work.

* * *

The reply came three days later. 

They accepted the conditions, as they were reasonable given that it was Izumi who would be going in.

Upon getting the answer, Nedzu sent a message off to Aizawa that he was ready to inform Izumi about the test from the Commission, and surprisingly got a message back within a minute, stating it was about time.

Nedzu let out a chuckle, then pocketed his phone. “This is going to be quite interesting indeed,” he decided with an amused tone.

Interesting indeed.

**Author's Note:**

> [Discord](https://discord.gg/axAtBkF) for those of you who would like to come hang out, I have a server where a few of my friends  
> who are also writers are also residing, but it is indeed mine. Hope you'll come in and say hi :D


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